Mental health in sport - From the pitch to the professor's office

Professor Andy Smith from University of the Year, Edge Hill, blogs on how mental health and sport is entering the mainstream.

Consider these rather sobering but vitally important observations from the UK:

1 in 4 people will at some point in any given year experience mental illness.

In 2013, 6,233 people over the age of 15 died by suicide; 78% of suicides were by men (up from 63% in 1981).

Around 25% of adults experience depression by age 21; 75% of all adult mental disorders are experienced by age 21 and over one-half are experienced by age 14.

850,000 children and young people have a clinically significant mental health problem.

Approximately 78% of 5-15-year-olds and 35% of those aged 16 and above with anxiety or diagnosable depression are not in contact with mental health services.

1 in 12 young people self-harm and since 2002 there has been a 68% increase in the number of hospital admissions for young people who self-harm.

We can point to many other findings which are indicative of the scale and social distribution of mental illness in many countries (not just the UK), and it is likely that the reported prevalence of mental illness under-estimates the actual size of the problem.

There are many reasons for this, including the accurate reporting and identification of mental illness and suicide, the ways in which processes of stigma and self-stigma lead those with mental health problems to conceal their experiences from others, and the failure of some people with mental illness to access mental health services.

The use of sport as a vehicle for addressing mental health problems, whether among the population as a whole or among identified target groups including men or young people, might appear a legitimate area of activity for those with an interest in the sport development industry.

It is true that the promotion of health has long been regarded as a priority for those who wish to promote sport, but until relatively recently the focus of many sports-based programmes has been on physical health (often as a means of weight management and improved fitness).

This dominance is slowly changing, but there is a long way to go before mental health is regarded as an equal bedfellow to physical health – not just in sport, but in many other areas of social and welfare policy.

This is just one reason why, in September 2015, my own university will introduce – in association with Everton in the Community – the first UK postgraduate degree in Sport, Physical Activity and Mental Health.

The need for much greater public recognition of mental health promotion as an important, though often neglected, feature of sport policy and development also prompted Edge Hill University to sign the Mental Health Charter for Sport and Recreation created by the Sport and Recreation Alliance, alongside the Professional Players Federation and Mind. We look forward to working with these and organisations to help realise the ambitions of the Mental Health Charter.

At Sport for Development: A whole new ball game in November I will be discussing some of the issues which need to be considered when using community sports-based programmes to address mental illness among different population groups.

As part of a broader research team including other colleagues from the Department of Sport and Physical Activity at Edge Hill University and Everton in the Community (the official charity of Everton Football Club), I will report on sports-based mental health research conducted with men, families and young people living in Merseyside, and consider how lessons can be learnt and best practice shared by others with an interest in promoting mental health via sports-based community programmes.

The opportunities and challenges of working in the sport and mental health field, and the importance of designing community programmes which foster positive relationships between participants, mentors and project workers, will be among the issues that will be discussed.

The difficulties of providing evidence of programme effectiveness and impact will also be considered, as will the need to develop mutually supportive and sustainable partnerships within notoriously turbulent policy contexts.

I look forward to seeing you there, and to discussing why sport and mental health represents a whole new ball game in sport for development.

Twitter: @ProfAndySmith

E-mail: andy.smith@edgehill.ac.uk

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