Rouseys suicidal thoughts and mental health in professional sports
Playing sports comes with risks. Sprained ankles, fractured ribs and broken noses to name a few. Professional sports organisations have an army of medical staff to deal with these mishaps quickly. But what happens when it isn’t a physical condition, but a psychological one?
When Ronda Rousey admitted to feeling suicidal after her devastating UFC loss to Holly Holm during her appearance on The Ellen Show last week, she gave us a unique opportunity to more openly discuss mental health in mixed martial arts as well as high-profile sports in general. One on one combat sports like MMA combine hyper-competitive athletes with tough sensibility and mental discipline which doesn’t really foster a culture that has much of an ability to tackle complex psychological issues in a meaningful way.
Doctor Patsy Tremayne, a sports psychologist at Western Sydney University, has said that sporting codes – so good at dealing with bodily injuries – are still not up to scratch in terms of dealing with mental health problems. She joined us on the line to talk more about it.
