KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Big 12 Conference is tackling mental health and making sure athletes know they can always ask for help.
"You take a student athlete [and put] that a certain amount of pressure on them to perform, and then remove them from being able to go to practice, remove them from their teammates," said Dr. Gregory Nawalanic, clinical psychologist at The University of Kansas Health System, referencing college athletic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. "A lot of different variables in place that are going to create a lot of atypical and abnormal stress or pressure."
Mark Vital, a forward on the Baylor University Men's Basketball team, said a lot of people have multiple stresses to contend with.
"They try to hide it because they play a certain sport or they go to work and it's something they love, so they try to put all the pain into it," Vital said.
That's why the Big 12 now has a campaign called "Big 12 Breaks The Stigma" to show athletes it's OK to ask for help at their university.
"We just feel like, by placing a priority on it, we can help to destigmatize [mental health] to put forth resources that can assist people, and they exist on campuses," Bob Bowlsby, Big 12 Conference commissioner, said. "They exist within athletics programs but they aren't always accessed in a timely way or the way they ought to be."
But, the topic of mental health goes further for the University of Kansas.
"Mental Health has been the No. 1 concern, or they have been wanting more resources put to," Kristie Baumchen, KU Athletic's student-athlete wellness coordinator, said.
The school has a dedicated program called "Beak The Stigma" to be a life line for players seeking help.
"Part of it is education on what encompasess mental health, education on sleep, the importance of sleepy hygiene, the importance of taking care of your mind as well as providing counseling services and things like that," Baumchen said.
Their program helps students know their mental health is equal to their physical health. The Big 12 hopes its campaign has the same message.
"This is a way to empower young people and to provide resources and to draw attention to the difficulties and challenges that we are all dealing with in this pandemic," Bowlsby said.
If you are having suicidal thoughts or believe you are in a mental health crisis, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can be accessed 24/7 by calling 800-273-8255.
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