NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Atlantic 10 Conference Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) is proud to announce the official launch of its Mental Health Video series this month as part of the national conversation surrounding mental health and its effects on student-athletes. Since 1949, May has been recognized as Mental Health Awareness Month to increase awareness and educate the public on mental illness and to reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness. This initiative centers around a nine-part video series featuring interviews between student-athletes and mental health professionals regarding topics of high importance such as depression, anxiety, and the stigma surrounding mental health.
Mental health is a national issue and a topic that A-10 institutions continue to prioritize, especially as it relates to athletics and student-athletes. According to Cody Shimp, the Atlantic 10 SAAC President, the league has continually emphasized the importance of mental health programming and aims to continue improving on the resources as well as the overall discourse on the topic.
"With the mental health crisis among student-athletes being very real and prevalent, A-10 SAAC wanted to provide resources to student-athletes across the conference," Shimp said. "This mental health video series put together in conjunction with Atlantic 10 student-athletes, psychologists and former athletes aims to answer questions on the topic of mental health. It is essential to communicate that everyone faces obstacles and these obstacles don't need to be experienced alone.
"We want this initiative to continue the pursuit of ending the stigma surrounding mental health by having these conversations. We also want to demonstrate that there are support mechanisms in place on all campuses across the conference, whether it's your teammates, coaches, athletic trainers, nutritionists or any others."
SAAC interviewed three subject matter experts on A-10 campuses and created short Q&A videos that seek to answer questions student-athletes may have. With some of their peers overwhelmed by anxiety and depression, the A-10 SAAC representatives hope to defeat mental illness's negative stigma by addressing these topics through the short videos. The videos are centered around three major topics: depression, anxiety and mental health stigma.
"Right now, there is a mental health crisis amongst student-athletes and we are hoping that we can help by starting the conversation by encouraging others to seek help and learning how to support their teammates," St. Bonaventure SAAC President Caroline Paterno said. "Our goal was to help put student-athletes in the right direction by getting the conversation started by creating videos that helped answered some common questions surrounding mental health. To me, this initiative means showing student-athletes that they are not alone, and everyone in the Atlantic 10 Conference is here to support you. It means we are committed to mental health and our student-athletes' wellbeing."
The Atlantic 10 SAAC Mental Health Initiative will conclude with an interview between Paterno and former NFL fullback Michael Robinson in mid-May.