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About Beyond the Outcome
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 Beyond the Outcome is a searchable collection of articles about current topics in athlete mental health. I hope this helps you as an athlete or coach in developing awareness of mental health and reducing the stigma associated with it.
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Gain A Mental EDGE camp
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The world of sports has become increasingly competitive. High school
student athletes feel the need to achieve both in school and in sport.
Players are often not only competing with other teams, they also compete
with each other for positions and playing time.
This one-day camp was created to help student-athletes recognize and
learn some unique skills that can help guide them in their sport and in
everyday life.
Who: All high school athletes, in any sport, entering grades 9-12
Location: Anderson Auditorium-Edgewood College Campus-Madison, WI
Friday January 24, 2020 Starts: 1:00pm / Ends: 4:00pm Cost: $75.00
Camp Features
- Obtain mental skills coaching in a personalized setting
- Learn to be an expert on yourself-your baseline level of functioning
- Learn cognitive reframing skills to tackle negative self-talk
- Understand how failure can be GOOD for you and how to learn from failure
- Learn mindful self-compassion techniques to accept the good and bad, the successes and the failures
- How to approach a parent/coach if you need additional help
...more
Bethany`s Notes: Consider registering for this camp as a unique experience to help you gain a Mental EDGE in sport and in life.
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Towards resolving mental illness in sport
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 .....There are a number of factors that cause anxiety, loneliness, and even depress in athletes, many of which are sufficiently manageable to not interfere with or prematurely end a player`s career..... There are a number of factors that cause anxiety, loneliness Read more at:
https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/opinion/city-columns/towards-resolving-mental-illness-in-sport/articleshow/73162761.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst There are a number of factors that cause anxiety, loneliness Read more at:
https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/opinion/city-columns/towards-resolving-mental-illness-in-sport/articleshow/73162761.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst There are a number of factors that cause anxiety, loneliness Read more at:
https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/opinion/city-columns/towards-resolving-mental-illness-in-sport/articleshow/73162761.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
Bethany`s Notes: The author discusses some of the top issues facing athletes: parental pressure, performance anxiety, social media, homesickness, injury, and relationship issues. A good read. He even recommends some skills to help.
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Athletes struggle to find purpose, identity after sports | Special Report
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 .....Athletes forced to leave their sports, through injury, graduation or retirement, routinely battle depression and anxiety. It affects elites and amateurs of all ages, across the spectrum of sport, gender and competitiveness. It’s a crisis hidden beneath a facade of strength and drowned out by the roar of the crowds.
No other place in society glorifies perfection — and suffering — like sports..... .....But painting athletes in a gilded, glossy finish muddies the line between the grind and challenges with mental health — for players, coaches and even parents. The hurdles athletes face can take on a new scope when traumatic injury, age, or other unavoidable factors threaten, or end, lifelong pursuits. At a 2018 panel, Michael Phelps, the most successful Olympian of all time, recounted the words he said to his wife after his retirement:
“I feel like I’m failing in everything that I do.”..... ...more
Bethany`s Notes: A MUST READ for this week!!!
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Getting personal, former Waltham track star Ivy Watts talks mental health
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 .... “I was a
college athlete and had no idea who I was beyond that,” she said. “Then I
came crashing down. It’s difficult because your whole life you are
cheered on because you are so good at sports. But that doesn’t have to
define you as a person.”Watts
said lingering stigmas around mental illness, and a former boyfriend
who discouraged therapy, delayed her from reaching out for help. But
once she did, she not only realized she could help herself, but that her
story could perhaps help others....
.....One of the messages Watts tries to impart:
Athletes must remind themselves they “are more than just a time on the
scoreboard.” She allowed that it was harder, at first, to share her
vulnerabilities in front of large groups of strangers, but that she has
become more comfortable with it over the past 18 months......
...more
Bethany`s Notes: No one is alone. There are people who have gone through similar situations. Ask for help. If you are a coach, check in with your athletes and ask how they are doing...listen and dig deeper if necessary.
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More than a game; why mental health is an issue for athletes and how you can help
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 .....Dr. Merrick said 25% of student-athletes in the NCAA have clinical
depression significant enough to benefit from therapy. In fact, it’s
their number one health and safety concern.
I love basketball, but at the same
time I struggled heavily with obsessive compulsive symptoms when I
played and I didn’t even know I had OCD when I played. Part of what I do
now is an advocate is say you don’t need to quit your sport. You can
get help for it while you’re playing. Ian Johnson, Former Basketball Player, Author and Advocate....
...more
Bethany`s Notes: I agree. We need to create a culture of acceptance and unconditional love. People have struggles and make mistakes but when they are willing to get help someone needs to be there for them.
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Tom Shields goes public with his rescue, hoping it helps save others
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 .....Shields wrote that he was “caught in a certain line of thinking, one
that convinced me ‘I should get out of the way of the people I hurt, I
will never get my s— together, or be worthwhile. I am simply incapable
of becoming the person I want to be, so the best course of action would
be to die, and cease the pain I bring into the world.’ I had spent many
years fantasizing and reveling in this line of thought.”...... .....“This is going to help some people, you hope,” he said. “More than
anything, I’d like to shift the conversation. [Suicide] attempts are
always going to be a big deal, but I hope that we get to the point where
it’s not a big deal to just ask for help.”..... ...more
Bethany`s Notes: We can be a victim of our thinking brain. We have to be a victor over our brains and tell it the truth based on factual evidence. We have to rely on others and ask for help when we need it.
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How Baylor Revamped Its Mental-Health Services Amid a Scandal
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 .....It’s hard to pinpoint precisely when Baylor University’s horrific sexual-assault scandal hit rock bottom, but four years ago this month
is as fitting a date as any. That’s when ESPN released blistering
accusations that the university had failed its Title IX obligations to
provide counseling and other support to women who reported being raped
by their fellow students — many of them Baylor athletes, mostly football
players.... .....Anxiety, depression, relationship issues, trauma, and substance abuse
emerged as treatment priorities for the center. But so did another
long-neglected set of mental-health issues: risky eating behavior and
full-blown eating disorders, which together afflict nearly a third of college students nationwide. The American Psychiatric Association
defines eating disorders as an illness in which “people experience
severe disturbances in their eating behaviors and related thoughts and
emotions.”..... ...more
Bethany`s Notes: A good read on how a campus changed course and started better meeting the needs of their students. The article specifically discusses the eating disorder care and assessment team and how they support students throughout their journey.
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Sports couldn’t save Bryce Gowdy, and his suicide shines a sad spotlight on an ignored crisis
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 .....It is unfortunate that it takes the death of blossoming black athletic
bodies to heighten awareness of the demise of young black bodies not
necessarily part of our sports industrial complex. But that has become
our value system. We pay attention to the black boys who entertain us.
Others may as well be invisible. No matter that all of them suffer the
same troubles, such as the trauma of racism, chaotic home lives,
unstable finances and, Lindsey added, a barrage of news reports about
their lot that has engendered a sense of hopelessness.... .....The
story that was supposed to be written about Bryce Gowdy — and Zachary
Winston — was one you have read a dozen times over. It was supposed to
be how sports rescued them from a bad-luck situation, the vagaries of
growing up poor, having to survive a violence-ridden neighborhood where
its most prominent members are kings and queens of a lumpenproletariat. But
they turned out, sadly, to tell another story. It is, as Taylor
observed in her remarks more than seven years ago now, that to be young,
black and male in America — gifted or not — too often means to be
“demonized and dehumanized in such a way that the very desire to be
alive is taken away.”.....
Bethany`s Notes: There are few words to say about this story....the only addition is that mental health issues do no discriminate. Doesn`t matter if you are black, white, rich, poor, smart, athletically gifted, etc....everyone is dealing with something.
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Olympic Figure Skater Gracie Gold Opens Up About Career Comeback After Mental Health Struggles
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 ....“I was worried what people were going to say or think,” Gold told the Times
of having to rebuild her career after speaking out about her mental
health battle. “I don’t want to say there were double-takes, but there
were eyes on me, for sure.”
Gold — a 2014 Olympic bronze medalist — announced she was taking a break from figure skating in 2017 to receive treatment for depression, anxiety and an eating disorder..... ....To keep her expectations in check, the skater said she is more focused
on the progress she is making, rather than the final results....
...more
Bethany`s Notes: I`ll be cheering for her in her next competition. The atmosphere of elite athletics is hard to return to but it appears sport does not define her anymore.
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 ....."Kids are already ready to do what their coach says," said Kathryn
Laughon, an associate professor at the University of Virginia School of
Nursing. "A coach is often an authority figure and has true respect and
is really creating a little community in a way that has historically
been toxic. This helps take that energy and turn it into something
positive.".... .....This study involved 973 male athletes in 41 middle schools in
Pennsylvania. Half the schools were randomly selected to participate in
the program. The study ran between spring 2015 and fall 2017, including
one sports season and a year of follow-up. By the end of the sports season, boys in the program were 50% more
likely to intervene if they saw a peer being disrespectful toward
others, researchers found.
This effect persisted through the following year. Male
athletes were more than twice as likely to report positive bystander
behaviors a year after the program`s conclusion than male athletes at
schools that did not participate in the program.....
...more
Bethany`s Notes: A very interesting program. Anyway we can help people treat other individuals better is a good start. Excited to see where this program might go nationally.
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USA Gymnastics hires Kim Kranz to expand focus on athlete health and wellness
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 .....“The health and wellness of our athletes is one of our top priorities,
said Li Li Leung, president and CEO of USA Gymnastics. “Our goal is to
expand our focus to not only include sports medicine-related resources,
but also education and support to assist our athletes in preparing for
life beyond the sport. Providing resources for the whole athlete is an
important piece for our becoming an athlete-centric organization. Kim’s
background and passion for supporting the wellbeing of athletes
throughout their athletic journeys are the reasons we believe she is the
right person to lead our health and wellness initiatives. She will be a
valuable asset as we continue to implement critical changes and
reforms.”...... ...more
Bethany`s Notes: We`re watching USA Gymnastics.
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Mental Health for Athletes: How Mindfulness Can Help
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 ....Quite often athletes find themselves in a mental environment that is not conducive to mindfulness. Analyzing past performances can create a mindset of judgement and resistance. Having a focus on outcomes often creates a situation where athletes grasp for more never allowing themselves to enjoy of the present moment.... ....Focusing on future events creates grasping and paying too much attention to the past can create attachment which in turn may create feelings of discontent and regret. These emotions can play havoc on an athlete’s mental health. In contrast when your awareness is on the present it allows you to notice things that create feelings of gratitude and engagement.....
...moreBethany`s Notes
Notes: Have you tried mindfulness as a technique for sport? How has it worked for? What techniques have been beneficial? Please share with me your experiences.
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Great Resources
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Welcome / About Bethany
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Thanks for your interest in Beyond the Outcome.
Brewster just recently completed her Master`s Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. She is interested in applying systemic therapies in team and individual settings. Players are often not only competing with other teams, they also compete with each other for positions, playing time, and, in some cases, scholarship money. These unique team circumstances can lead to conflict within and among team members, including the coaching staff. The need for more information on mental health is essential for both coaches and athletes. This website provides a gathering of information and resources to help serve the sports community.
Brewster is the current cross country/track and field coach for Edgewood College, located in Madison, Wisconsin. A
highly decorated student-athlete while at the University of Wisconsin,
Brewster has a total of 11 Big Ten championships to her credit. She was
an All-American selection six times during her career. Post
collegiately, she competed in the 1500m at the 2004 Summer Olympic
Trails in Sacramento, CA. Brewster is a USATF Level 1 and 2 certified
coach. ...more
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Start Week: -1 - Query String:SELECT * FROM sports WHERE `issue` > -1 and volume = 8 OR `issue` > 90 ORDER BY sortorder
