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LydiaAmanielandMorganRobinson
MatthewPatrickandNicholasChambers
MentalHealthinAthletes
10November2015

MentalHealthinSports
Sports are constantly being talked about, they have influenced thewaymanypeoplelive
their lives, even young kids dream tobejustliketheproathletetheyseeontelevision.Although
thelifeofanathletedefinitelyhasitsupsanddowns,lifeisntalwaysglamorous.Therearequite
a few athletes who struggle with mental illnesses, and let thosediseasestakeovertheirthoughts
and lives. Many have argued about this problem, some saythatsportsorganizationsshouldhelp
these athletes, and have more resources available for them, others dont agree, and that is an
opposition that should be discussed. In preparation to play a sport, athletes will sign a contract,
so they know what to expectandtheyknowtherisksofparticipating.Whenlookingatstatistics,
a majority ofathletesdonthaveanymentalillnessesorarealreadybeingtreated.Wewouldlike
to begin with talking about how playing sports is a choice, and how you know what youre
walkingintowhenyoudecidetoplayone.
Although many peoplearguethatmoreneedstobedonetopreventathlete'sinjuriesfrom
happening, an athlete does sign a contract warning them about the risks in playing the game or
participating in the sport. All the same, a player will get a guaranteed salary even if they are
injured, but they still understand that football like a lot of other commonly played professional
sports,isacontactsportinwhichinjurieshappenfrequently.


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When a person does something they are making a hypothetical consent, which basically
means that when you choose to do something, like playasport,youknowtherisksandtermsof
what you are going to do and you still choose to do it. Playing football in a league such as the
NFL you must sign multiple contracts including those about injury, payment,timeonthatteam,
and more. This can bring up a question: what arethemorallimitsofthesecontracts?Bysigning
thesedifferentcontractsanathleteisgivingtheirconsenttothetermsofthecontract.
Not only does the athlete sign a physical and binding legal contract they also, in their
own mind, know the risks of playing a sport. For example, ice hockey is a contact sport. By
participating, the player knows that there is a very real risk of injury. They need to completely
understand what those risksareandmakesurethattheyarewillingtotakethoserisksbyplaying
the sport. Also, by signing a contract to play in the sport, they know what they are signing,and
whattheyareobligatingthemselvestodo.
Sports play a very big role in society today, many athletes struggle with mental health
issues,andmanyarguethatsportsorganizationsneedtodosomethingmoretohelpsupportthese
athletes, but arent athletes wealthy enough tosupportthemselves?FloydMayweather,arguably
the best boxer of all time, made a whopping $300 million just this year. Soccer star, Cristiano
Ronaldo, made very close to $80 million this year. Even though most athletes dont make as
much money as Mayweather and Ronaldo, they still receive a largepaycheck.Theaverageplay
ahockeyplayerreceivesintheNHLis$2.58million..ForathletesintheNBAtheaveragesalary
is $4.9million,anMLBplayerreceives$3.82million,andasof2013,theNFL averagepaywas
$2 million.Therefore,athletesdonotstrugglefinancially,theyhavethemoneyandtheresources


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to find treatments for themselves, not all athletes struggle with mental health issues, but even
athleteswhodo/didstrugglewiththeirmentalhealthhaveenoughmoneytosupportthemselves.
Brandon Marshall, the wide receiver for the New York Jets, was diagnosed with
borderline personality disorder in 2011 and signed a three year contract for$26millionwithhis
team. This doesnt mean that mental health isnt something to be taken seriously, but there are
many people who suffer with the same diseases, although they dont have the same amount of
money and resources as these athletes. This is because many people value athletes and sports,
more than average people doing everyday things. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration (SAMHSA) conducted a study whichfoundthataround18.2percentor
42.5 million Americans who are 18 or older suffer with mental illnesses. Instead of asking the
NFL to pay for wealthy athletes treatment, we should be focusing on those who are less
fortunate.
Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher had his own idea on how he thought people
should act, he called his philosophy Kantianism. He believed that people should act with a
motive of duty instead of a motive of inclination or acting autonomously rather than
heteronomously. Kant also described autonomy like this, to act autonomously is to act
according to a law I give myself not according to the dictates of nature or social convention.
This means that acting autonomously, or with a motive of a duty, iswhenyoudosomethingfor
yourself without any outside factors playing a role in the decision you make. Acting with a
motive of inclination, or heteronomously, is the opposite of autonomy. Kant described this by
saying, When I act heteronomously, I act according to determinations given outside of me.
This connects to sports because large sports organizations would only want to help athletes


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because of the amountofscrutinytheyhavealreadyfaced.PoliticusUSASportswroteanarticle
about the NBA not giving enough attention to athletes with mental illnesses. Daniel Carcillo, a
hockey player for the Chicago Blackhawks, is practically begging for the NHL to have a
program that will helpathleteswhoalsosufferfromthesediseases.Heevenhadayoutubevideo
made to help promote this idea. If the NBA or the NHL were to implement something within
their organizations to help those withmentalillnesses,theywouldbedoingthiswithamotiveof
inclination
not a motive of duty. The only reason they would take action to this problem is
because people have been taking notice of these articles and Youtube videos, then they are
criticising them for not taking action. Dont you think that something would have been done
already if theyactuallycared?UsingKantsphilosophy,iftheytakeaction,theywouldbeacting
heteronomously because outside forces made an influence on the outcome, not based on what
theywantedtodo.
While there are manytreatmentoptionsavailable,athletescannotalwaysrecognizewhen
they are havingamentalhealthissue.Thiscanbeaseriousproblemwhenthingsgetoutofhand.
Many athletesarereluctanttorevealtheirsymptomsastheythinkhavingthoseissuesareseenas
a sign of weakness. A big struggle for many athletesislearninghowtoworkthroughpainanda
majority have not developed a healthy coping mechanism to deal with failure. Many athletes,
more specifically, studentathletes, havenotdevelopedtheiridentityoutsideofthatasanathlete.
Then, if their role as an athlete is threatened or damaged by injury or illness they experience a
losswhichthencanleadtodepressionandanxiety.
The athletes that are most at risk for mental illnesses are football players. They are
constantly being hit with an immense force, and that has taken a huge toll on how they live


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everyday life. Junior Seau, afootballplayerwhosementalillnessdrovehimtosuicide,struggled
with thisalmosthisentirecareer.HesufferedbraindamagebecausehespenthistimeintheNFL
being tackled repeatedly by guys who were well over 250 pounds. This is why his family sued
the organization, not only did Seau suffer from sleeping disorders, but he also struggled with
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). This is a disease that is only found in people who
have a history of head injuries and concussions, which is essentially why hecommittedsuicide.
A study was done September of 2015, which found that 96% of deceased professional football
players had CTE, due to brain damage fromconstantlygettingblowstothehead.Thestudyalso
found that 131 of165footballplayers havestruggledwithCTEaswell.Thisisonlyanexample
ofoneathletefromonesport,soccerplayersalsohavetroubledealingwithmentalillnesses.
Again, while we areacknowledgingtheoppositeside,thatdoesntmeanthatitisentirely
accurate. As said before, athletes know very wellwhattheyaregettingintowhentheychooseto
participateinasport.Someactionshavealreadybeentakeninpreventinginjuriesinsports,more
specificallyintheNFL.Whenlookingattheconcussionstatsthepastfewyears,youcanseethat
sincethingshavebeendonetheyhavegonedown,andnomorereallyneedstobedone.Weneed
to focusonmoreseriousproblemsinsports.Druguse,forexample,whichisahugeandgrowing
probleminathletes.
The amount of injuries in sports have decreased over the past because of precautions,
rules, andregulationsthathavebeenenforced.Thechancesofgettinginjuredarenotveryhighif
you follow those regulations. In order to lower the concussion rate, NFL football players are
being very innovative, and are modifying the way they play the sport. They are doing this by
tackling the players in a way that is more skillful, and will still bring the player down, but


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without disabling them. In 2012, there were 173 concussions during the regular season, this
number since then has been dropping. In 2013, there were 148, in 2014, 111. There was a 36%
decrease in concussions over those three years, and just this season the rate has gone down by
25%. The NFL has introduced a new electronic way of keeping medical records, this makes it
easier to keep track of an injury no matter how big or small. Around 15% more injuries were
documented in 2014 compared to the 2013 season, because of the newsystemthatwasreleased
whichshouldhelpwithfasteningthehealingprocessfortheseathletes.

This graph represents the concussion rate in the NFL over thepastthreeyears,onthegraphyou
can see more clearly how much the number has decreased. The trendline is the rate that the
number is expected to move at. We predict that if this trendline continues, the amount of
concussionsintheNFLwilldecrease.

Statistics show that physical injury and mental illnesses are not the biggest problem in
sports these days. We need to focus on drugs issues happeningwithathletesandotherproblems
at home, such as domestic violence. Drug use in the NFL is surprisinglya huge problem, but is
usually overpassed by more popular issues. According to Bret Locker, a former safety in the
NFL, There have been a lot of players that have been addicted to painkillers. I know thatfora
fact." Lockett says he knows because he saw it. He was in the NFL locker rooms for many
seasons with the Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots and New York Jets. Lockett thinks
that a solutiontothisproblemwouldbeto"Monitorhowmanytheyaretaking.Theplayersneed
to make sure they're only taking two a day, and thedoctorsneedtomakesurethey'renotgiving
outmorethantwoadayforthemtotake."
Hockey is another sport where drug use is a problem, in the recent years there has been
an increase in cocaine use by athletes in the NHL. The percentage of athletes who use cocaine
has gone up substantially, and it doesnt seem like that number will be going down anytime
soon because it is predicted that itwillcontinuegrowing.TheNHLsdeputycommissionerBill
Daly said "The number of [cocaine] positives are more than they were in previous years and
they're going up, I wouldn't say it's a crisis in any sense. What I'd say is drugs like cocaine are
cyclical and you've hit acyclewhereit'san'in'drugagain.Thisishowweknowthisisanissue
that needs to gain more attention, the NHL has acknowledged the problem. Now it isourjobto
bringmoreawarenesstothisissue,insteadofotherproblemsthatarentassignificant.
Utilitarianism is aphilosophythatwasfoundedbyJeremyBentham,thepurposebeingto
please the greatest amount of people as possible. Regarding sports, is it in everyones best


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interest that nothing is done to help prevent mental illness andinjuriesforathletes?Autilitarian
makes decisions on the basis of proceeding with actionsthatgivepleasureratherthanpain.This
can be applied to sports because when an athlete is injured, it is considered a pain, the pleasure
would come fromhelpingthemordoingsomethingtopreventitfromhappeningagain.Whenan
athlete, whether they still play or dont play sports anymore, struggles with any type of mental
illness it brings pleasure to no one. When an athlete quits the sport they were playing because
they simply cant handle both the disorder, and the game, once again it brings no joy. Derek
Boogaard played in the NHL and was a left winger for the Minnesota Wild and New York
Rangers,hecommittedsuicideMay13, 2011. HisbrotherAaron waswithhimbeforehisdeath
and he claimed that Derek was miserable, and when he came back to check on Derek he was
gone. Dereks brain was sent to a laboratory in Massachusetts, and five monthslater,hisfamily
finally received the results. It was discovered that he suffered from Chronic Traumatic
Encephalopathy(CTE),whichissaidtobecausedfromconsistentlygettingblowstothehead.
It is very important to acknowledge the opposing argument, but this doesntmeanthatit
is correct. The purpose, or telos of sports, istoentertainacrowd,showoffyourphysicalability,
and to win. Injury happens to beapartofsports,itsincludedandinevitable.Ifanythingwereto
be done to try and lower the amount of injuries athletes get,thatwouldbealteringthesportthat
many love, and essentially it wouldnt be the same sport as before. This is something that
Aristotle argues, he also talks about honor, and thatrelatestosportsbecausesocietyrewardsthe
strongest and fastest athletes for their physical prowess. Just because some athletes are being
injured, doesnt mean the whole sport needs to change. Hockey, for example, is acontactsport,
after it was found that Derek Boogaard suffered from CTE, his family sued the NHL. They


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believed that it was the league's fault their sonhadbraindamage,andphysicaltrauma.Theonly
way to resolve this issue would be to change hockey, violence is in the sport and it always has
been. If hockey were to be changed, that would affect the telosofthesport,becauseitwouldbe
affecting the way the sport is being played. Also if an athlete doesnt want to participate in a
sport they dont have to.Nooneisforcingthemtoputonauniformandplay.Theychoosetodo
that for themselves, they are allowed to make their own decisions, and if they decide to play
professionally,theyshouldbeheldaccountableforthatdecision.
Overall, sports are an important part of society and we have recognized that injuries
happen and are inevitable when participating. Many steps have already been made to prevent
injuries from happening. An athlete also knows what the risks are, and they take that risk when
they choose toplayasport.Contractsarelinkedtothisinafewdifferentways.Formostathletes
an actual contract gets signed, as well as a consent to play, which is morelikeasocialcontract.
Libertarianism says that a person owns themselves andisfreetomaketheirowndiscsions.Soif
that means that they consent to play a sport then they can even though the risks are still there.
We also need to understand that there are more important issues in sports that we should focus
on, such as drug abuse. Some solutions have been made, but it is stillaproblemandthisshould
get the majority of the attention. So we have concluded that injuriesarenotthebiggestproblem
in sports, for example how the number of concussions in the NFL have naturally been
decreasing, due to the athletes being innovative and tackling in a new way. Playing sports
doesnt come without a reward, athletesgetpaidalargesumofmoney,whichtheycanspendon
helping themselves get better if an injury does occur. This doesnt mean that mental health
illnesses shouldnt be taken seriously, but we believe that sports organizations shouldnt be the


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ones to pay for them, the player who makes the money should. Finally, we can come to the
conclusion that injuries in sport arenotthebiggestissueandaplayerchoosestoparticipateeven
whentheyknowtherisks.

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