An Introduction to the Stigma Surrounding Sport and Performance Psychology and Athlete Mental Health
An empty basketball court. There are two hoops with read, yellow, and blue on the court. There are empty bleachers and a tree in the background.
Mental health issues affect athletes at prevalence rates that are similar to the general population even with the belief that athletes are protected because of their highly active lifestyles (Petersen et al., 2023). And yet, stigma continues to be an issue for athletes when it comes to seeking support from a mental health professional or sport and performance consultant (SPC). Let’s begin our discussion because when we start to talk about mental health and sport psychology consulting we begin to break the stigma. Thank you in advance!
Factors Contributing to the Stigma
There are potentially many factors contributing to the stigma of athlete mental health. Here are just a few of the many to get the conversation started.
Mental Toughness Dominate Culture
Oftentimes sports cultures promote being tough physically and mentally, looking athletic and fit, and winning at all costs can be prohibitive when it comes to seeking help (Zakrajsek et al., 2023).
Fear of Being Judged
When seeking mental health or sport psychology services, athletes may fear the potential judgement, social exclusion, or the perception of being seen as weak (Rao & Hong, 2020).
Athlete Identify Attachment
Some athletes identify strongly with their athletic identity which can make an athlete more hesitant to reach out for support because in their perception it will compromise their identity (Neal, 2025).
High-Performance Environments
Athletes to perform in high-performance sports may experience a lot of pressure to perform which can lead to a fear of failure potentially increasing any existing mental health concerns and increasing the hesitation in seeking help (Henriksen et al., 2024).
Cultural, Social, and Historical Bias
Sports happen with cultures. It is not isolated. Thus, any cultural biases around mental health transfer and can potentially even be amplified (Rice et al., 2016).
It is also important to remember that every athlete, performing artists, professional, etc. all have unique life experiences and personalities. These can also contribute depending on what the experiences are. For example, if an athlete grew up in a family that did not believe in seeking mental health support, the familial influence can contribute to the athlete not seeking support.
What Else Does Research Say?
Yes, we do have to go here because there are some other interesting findings that open up a much bigger discussion. The goal, however, is not to make this sound too academic, so let’s see if that happens!
Culture has already been mentioned above, briefly, but it is worth diving into further.
In one study investigating how an athlete’s Eastern-Western culture connection and personality relates to their perception of sport psychology and their attitudes toward an SPC, found that there could actually be a difference. According to Ong and Harwood (2018), they found that athletes who identified as from a Western culture had less stigma toward receiving sport psychology services, while having more personal openness and a less preference for an SPC of the same race or culture than the athlete identifying with an Eastern culture. One question that may be important to ask if the history of prejudice and discrimination is playing a role. Historically, Western systems have played a role in harming people from other cultures. Additionally, some service providers lack cultural understanding when it comes to Eastern cultures, which could also be a reason for seeking a provider from one’s own culture.
Another study to consider in our discussion today when it comes to culture. This study evaluated attitudes towards sport psychology consulting in athletes from three different countries: United States, United Kingdom and Germany. The results showed that gender, nationality, and type of sport all may play a role in attitude towards sport psychology services (Martin et al., 2004). So now we have some additional information to consider! It often helps when we have other studies to help clarify results and potentially support or disprove results. Thus, let’s look at one more study.
Does it make a difference if an athlete plays an individual sport versus a team sport? It turns out that it may. In general, athletes who play individual sports tend to have more positive attitudes towards sport psychology consulting (Rooney et al., 2021). The study also showed that athletes who played individual sports were also more likely to demonstrate increased confidence in consulting. However, that may be mediated by gender. This study specifically found that female-identifying athletes tend to have a positive association with consulting. Again, a moment of pause to ask some questions. What role does the team culture or the people play in bringing about this result? What about gender socialization may bring about the above result? We need to be critical thinkers when using study data in order to continue to grow our understanding.
As we can see this is a rather complex topic! There are many factors that influence the stigma around athlete mental health and sport psychology consulting. And while, this post did not cover everything it aims to give everyone an idea about what we are facing because it will take all of us to change the trajectory.
take action today moment:
Ask questions! In the blog post, there were a couple places where we stopped to ask questions and consider why the data is reflecting certain results. Continue this process. Continue to research, question, and reflect about your own beliefs and experiences. What did you learn, where, and when that impacts your attitudes? If you are in a place where you are inspired to act, consider what actions you can safely take to help break the silence around the stigma?
Learn More About Stigma and athletes:
Mental Health in Athletes: Breaking the Stigma
Athletes and Mental Health: The Hidden Opponent | Victoria Garrick | TEDxUSC
References
Henriksen, K., Huang, Z., Bartley, J., Kenttä, G., Purcell, R., Wagstaff, C. R., ... & Schinke, R. (2024). The role of high-performance sport environments in mental health: An international society of sport psychology consensus statement. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1080/1612197X.2024.2437923
Martin, S. B., Lavallee, D., Kellmann, M., & Page, S. J. (2004). Attitudes toward sport psychology consulting of adult athletes from the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 2(2), 146-160.
Ong, N. C. H., & Harwood, C. (2018). Attitudes toward sport psychology consulting in athletes: Understanding the role of culture and personality. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, 7(1), 46–59. https://doi.org/10.1037/spy0000103
Petersen, B., Schinke, R. J., Giffin, C. E., & Lariviere, M. (2023). The breadth of mental ill-health stigma research in sport: A scoping review. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 54(1), 67-90.
Rao, A. L., & Hong, E. (2020). Overcoming the stigma of mental health in sport. In E. Hong & A. Rao, (Eds.) Mental health in the athlete. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44754-0_1
Rice, S. M., Purcell, R., De Silva, S., Mawren, D., McGorry, P. D., & Parker, A. G. (2016). The mental health of elite athletes: A narrative systematic review. Sports medicine, 46(9), 1333-1353.
Rooney, D., Jackson, R. C., & Heron, N. (2021). Differences in the attitudes to sport psychology consulting between individual and team sport athletes. BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation, 13(1), 46. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13102-021-00271-7
Zakrajsek, R. A., Martin, S. B., Thomson, S. R., & Gulliver, A. (2023). Stigmatisation of mental illness and seeking sport psychology services. In I. Nixdorf, R. Nixdorf, J. Beckman, S. Martin, & T. Macintyre (Eds.), Handbook of mental health in elite sport (pp. 267-286). Routledge.
Neal, T. (2025). The association of athletic Identity on an athlete’s self-stigma for seeking psychological help. Sport Social Work Journal. https://doi.org/10.33043/bxa7r84z