CSCAA Newsletter // September 2019

Coaches, I’m so happy to be back this month to continue the conversation around mental health, especially as you settle into a new school year and season.

The fall is a time of new beginnings and fresh starts — and it’s also a time of massive transition, for you and your team. As everyone settles into their new roles and routines, it’s typical to feel a sense of heightened anxiety and navigate a mind racing with ‘what ifs,’ especially for the incoming freshman.

Anxiety is part of our body’s natural threat response system; feeling anxious is part of being human. Most of your student-athletes will ride the wave of anxiety, turn toward tools and positively cope. Through no fault of their own, some will need extra supports; some may even need the help of professionals.

In this month’s newsletter, I’m going to help you identify what a healthy response to stress may look like and warning signs that an athlete may need additional supports. I'm also going to share how you can help because we know from research that early intervention is a strong predictor of mental health resilience and recovery. And as a coach, you are on the front lines every day, spending more time with your student-athletes than any other adult in their lives.

You are the extended eyes and ears and hearts of their village.

You have the power to make a profound impact on the mental health of every one of your swimmers.

{and it doesn’t require a PhD or hours of time}

According to mental health research conducted by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), 80% of students feel overwhelmed by their responsibilities. One in four have a diagnosable illness - meaning the mental health problems they’re facing are impacting their ability to live, love, laugh and learn.

Of those one in four, 40% do not seek help.

This is the new landscape.

Mental health isn’t just a buzz word. It’s impacting our everyday life as coaches.

According to the American Psychiatric Association, mental illness is defined as a diagnosable illness that affects a person’s thinking, emotional state, and behavior as well as disrupts the person’s ability to work or carry out other daily activities and engage in satisfying personal relationships. It’s not a matter of trying harder or sucking it up or pushing through. We would never use that language with a student diagnosed with diabetes or asthma.

Our work as coaches is in helping our student-athletes find the best fit supports and tools so they can thrive.

I know mental health can feel like one more (MASSIVE) thing to add to your already packed plate. From the conversations I’ve had with collegiate coaches (across all sports + divisions), I know there are many who aren’t sure what to do or what to say to their athletes who are facing mental health challenges.

Some are afraid to ask questions. Some don’t want to.

Some don’t know what to do with the information. Some believe it’s not their role.

Some hesitate to reach out to additional supports because they don’t want to lose trust. Some don’t reach out because they want to be in control.

Some worry they’ll say the ‘wrong’ thing.

Some express feelings of being in the dark once their athletes start getting help.

I’m with you.

My goal this month is to lighten your load a bit by helping you to strengthen your Noticing muscle.

As coaches, we’re not in the business of diagnosing or treating mental illness.

With all the changes taking place at the beginning of a new school year and season - new team, classes, roles, routine - how can we differentiate between student-athletes who are navigating anxiety vs. those who may be struggling to cope?

While diagnosis and treatment are outside the scope of our work, there are ways we can help.

Here are three ways we can become more equipped Noticers:

ONE: Increase Our Awareness // Understanding the Pathways to Anxiety

Anxiety is our body’s natural response to an anticipated threat. When the brain senses a threat, it activates the fight-or-flight stress response. Neuroscientists used to believe that the thinking part of our brain, the cortex, was largely responsible for creating anxiety. They now realize that the amygdala, our fear center, plays a key role too.

To illustrate the difference between a healthy stress response and anxiety overdrive, let’s take a walk through the woods using four different scenarios. These scenarios were presented in Mindful Magazine’s April 2019’s article, Make Peace With Your Anxious Brain by Barbara Paulsen :

Scenario A: Danger is real, amygdala reacts.

Imagine you’re walking through the woods. A few feet ahead of you, you spot a snake. In that moment, you’re amygdala triggers the fight-or-flight response quickly. The cortex confirms, ‘Yes, danger! Snake!’ The cortex confirms the external stimulus is a danger and signals the amygdala to trigger fight-or-flight response. This is a healthy stress reaction.

Scenario B: Danger is real, amygdala doesn’t react.

Imagine you’re walking through the woods. A few feet ahead of you, you spot a snake. Amygdala doesn’t trigger fight-or-flight response because it hasn’t “learned” to associate it with danger. Cortex determines external stimulus is a danger and tells amygdala to trigger fight-or-flight response. This is a healthy stress reaction.

Scenario C: Danger isn’t real, amygdala reacts.

Imagine you’re walking through the woods. A few feet ahead of you, you spot a rope that looks like a snake. In that moment, you’re amygdala triggers the fight-or-flight response quickly. Cortex determines, ‘Nah, just a rope.’ Cortex determines external stimulus isn’t a threat, says ‘cut it out’ to the amygdala, which chills fight-or-flight response. No anxiety. Healthy response.

Scenario D: Danger isn’t real, amygdala overreacts.

Imagine you’re walking through the woods. A few feet ahead of you, you spot a rope that looks like a snake. In that moment, you’re amygdala triggers the fight-or-flight response quickly. Cortex determines, ‘Nah, just a rope.’ Cortex determines external stimulus isn’t a threat, says ‘cut it out’ to the amygdala, which chills fight-or-flight response. BUT, the amygdala is overreactive and continues fight-or-flight response. Anxiety overdrive.

*Important note: Even though the danger isn’t real in scenario D, it FEELS real to the person experiencing it because their body is physiologically reacting, i.e. sweaty palms, racing heart, breathlessness, etc. Telling our students to ‘RELAX’ isn’t helpful; it can actually make them feel even more anxious. When you notice someone in an anxiety spiral, instead of trying to talk logic (read: cortex messages aren’t connecting to the overreactive amygdala) use deep breathing. Deep belly breathing can activate the parasympathetic nervous system which works in opposition to the fight-or-flight response (or sympathetic nervous system).

TWO: Noticing Warning Signs // Typical Anxiety vs. Anxiety Disorder

In the same way our physical health can range from well to unwell to well, so can our mental health; it can vary day-to-day and even moment-to-moment. Everybody experiences anxiety at some time. Although it’s an unpleasant state, it can be quite useful in helping a person avoid dangerous situations and motivate them to solve everyday problems. Anxiety can vary in severity from mild uneasiness to a terrifying panic attack - it can also vary in how long it lasts, from a few moments to many years.

An anxiety disorder differs from typical anxiety in the following ways:

• It’s more severe.

• It’s long lasting.

• It interferes with the person’s studies, other activities, and family and social relationships

What you might notice if a student has an anxiety disorder:

• complain of headaches and other physical problems to avoid going to school / practice

• be extremely well behaved and quiet, fearful of asking questions

• demand extra time from coaches, asking questions constantly and needing a great deal of reassurance

• complain of sudden, unexplained physical illness, such as stomachache or headache when exams or performances are scheduled

• avoid meeting new people or socializing with groups, spending time with only a few safe friends

• use alcohol or drugs at parties to make it easier to talk to people

• leave social events early

• avoid speaking up for fear of embarrassment

*Important note: Just because a student shows one or some of these signs doesn’t mean they have an anxiety disorder. It does mean they are showing signs of mental health struggle - and research has shown that early intervention is a strong predictor of resilience and recovery. Whether or not it ends up being diagnosable shouldn’t stop us from helping them get the supports they need to thrive. Healthy athletes, healthy team. Healthy team opens space for high-performance - for achievement AND fulfillment.

THREE: Start a Conversation // Proactively Infuse Evidence-Based Strategies 

Statistically speaking, if you’re coaching a team of 30 athletes, 24 of them are feeling overwhelmed by their responsibilities. Eighty percent. It’s impacting your team in one way or another - even the athletes who seem like they’ve got it all together.

Starting a conversation around anxiety and overwhelm is not a waste of time; it will benefit all of your athletes and sends a strong message that you care. It lets them know you see them and believe it's OK to ask for help. It’s also a powerful opportunity to remind them that we all get hit with curveballs — that our power isn’t in the not-falling down; it’s in our response.

We can’t control when we get hit with waves of anxiety or overwhelm. We can control how we respond to it.

I know you have more on your to-do list than time to do it. I get that in big ways. And, the time spent helping students to identify ways to positively cope will most likely save you time and energy in the long run. It’ll impact team culture, which in turn will impact performance.

We also know from research that attentional and emotional awareness and regulation are prerequisites to accessing flow state. As hard as it is to take the time away from workouts, these kinds of Mindful Moments + Whiteboard Brainstorms can unlock new levels of performance. I’ve included a Whiteboard Brainstorm for you at the bottom of this newsletter to help you start a conversation with your team. The exercise can be modified in many ways (outlined in the Coach Notes) - and can take 5 minutes or 55.

Here are additional evidence-based, self-help strategies that can help with anxiety disorders — and high-performance:

• meditation

• exercise

• relaxation training

• acupuncture

• yoga

• avoiding alcohol, marijuana and tobacco

One more powerful tool is mindfulness, defined by Jon Kabat-Zinn as paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and without judgement. While there’s more to learn about mindfulness and its impact on the brain, there is research to suggest that mindfulness causes brain changes in the amygdala and the cortex. Neuroscientists do know that breath-focused meditation seems to help people’s amygdalas become less reactive to their own self-critical beliefs. There are lots of great apps out there, including Headspace and Calm.

I know starting a conversation around mental health can feel intimidating. It takes courage to stand up in front of your team and be vulnerable. That’s why I created this template - to help. This exercise can be a 5-10 minute conversation at the beginning or end of practice and/or adapted to fit a longer team meeting away from the pool. It could also be something you share with team leaders/captains and ask them to lead. There's no right way.

What’s important is that you’re starting the conversation.

Until next time, here’s your challenge: Overcoming Overwhelm

(To download a printable version, fill out the form below — as always, I love hearing from you: samantha@samanthalivingstone.com)