Coaches more mindful about mental health – Rose
Published:Monday | April 13, 2020 | 12:20 AMDaniel Wheeler/Gleaner Writer
Sports psychologist Dr Olivia Rose is pleased to see that coaches are being more receptive to receiving mental-health treatment in light of the pressures that the coronavirus pandemic is placing on the sporting world.
Rose was speaking during Thursday’s Gleaner Editor’s Forum addressing the impact that COVID-19 has had on sports. During the forum, Rose said that she is encouraged that stakeholders are seeking help maintaining their own mental health.
“I am happy to see that coaches are now reaching out for psychological help and support and expressing their own concerns, disappointments, and just talking things through in a safe and healthy space and cultivating their own coping mechanisms that they also need to translate to the athletes,” Rose said.
In a Gleaner interview on March 31, she emphasised the importance of athletes having spaces to express their concerns and frustrations freely in light of the restrictions on training and the suspension of competition. But she says athletes are not the only ones who have to navigate a new reality because of the virus. While maintaining their own mental wellness is critical, she believes it is important that coaches not be left out of getting treatment as they are not immune to the difficulties and burdens being placed on them in the current climate.
“The athletes interact more with the coaches than probably anybody else, and as a result, they, too, have their own struggles and their own concerns during this pandemic,” she said. “I am very happy to know that some of those have been checking in, in terms of their mental health, and they are affected not only as coaches, but officials as well.”
MORE ASSISTANCE
While she is pleased with how many have gravitated towards mental wellness during this crisis, Rose believes that additional assistance is required for all stakeholders.
“Sports, as a whole, is a unifying force in society and brings people together,” she said. “And with a pandemic such as the coronavirus, it somewhat separates us and pulls us physically apart. So our industry has been affected, and persons are now in a state of absurdity wondering, ‘What happens? How do we move from here? How long will this last?’
“They have been checking in, but I know there is a lot more work to be done because psychological and emotional support during these times is very critical.”