Africa-Press – Kenya. Most sportspersons struggling with mental health do not want to seek help because of the negative societal perceptions associated with it, stakeholders say.
The stakeholders admitted that mental health challenges have been the elephant in the room for the longest time but are, most of the times, swept under the carpet.
Athletics Kenya’s director of youth development Barnaba Korir said there are many triggers for mental health tribulations in an athlete’s career but that these issues are not easily identifiable compared to physical health challenges.
“Unless it is a psychologist, these issues are quite difficult to identify. There are so many reasons for mental health issues, including long-term injuries, financial problems as well as social issues within the family and in their relationship with the communities,” Korir said.
Korir added that AK is collaborating with the government and other stakeholders to identify and resolve mental health issues affecting athletes in light of recent unfortunate incidents involving a few of them.
“The systems we have had in place to address these problems have not been well established in our quest to give athletes a place to fall back on in times of trouble. We are now working together with the government to resolve them,” he said.
Former national cricket team captain and tennis player Aasif Karim recalled that a sportspersons’ career can sometimes be a lonely venture with no one to talk to.
“I remember our discussion with Greg Snow and how he was talking about being alone in the hotel room without anyone to chat with,” Karim said.
“I recall myself going on a six-week tour in Europe as a 17-year old in 1981 and losing in the first round of every tournament I played in. You can imagine the mental trauma I went through — thinking you are the best but then again losing in every match.”
He, however, expressed optimism times are changing as more sportspersons, such as tennis superstar Naomi Osaka, speak out about these tribulations.
“I think it’s changing. When athletes of that stature come out to speak about their challenges, it will eventually filter down to the others. It is work in progress and we need to educate our athletes more on the same,” he said.
The two were speaking as part of a virtual panel discussion on mental health and sports-related challenges.
Also in the forum was Kanyali Ilako, a sports psychologist, who called for more conversations on players’ mental health.
“For starters, we need more conversations on the issue and not to stigmatise it. We need to have more spaces where our athletes can find mental health training, besides physical training. Let’s not wait until it is too late,” she said.
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