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[cocoxi]

Breaking the Silence: Addressing Mental Health Stigma in Sports

By Xiaoxi Zhao

Mental health in sports is something that hits close to home for me, as both an athlete and someone who cares about mental well-being. As a student-athlete, I’ve seen firsthand how tough it can be for athletes to admit they’re struggling mentally. In sports, there’s this pressure to be “tough” and not show any weakness, which can lead people to ignore or hide their mental health challenges. I think it’s super important to break the silence around mental health in sports and create a space where athletes can talk about their struggles without fear of judgment. It's crucial for athletes to be supported both mentally and physically.

Sociologically Relevant

In sports, mental health is often overlooked because of the "no weakness" mentality. Athletes are expected to be tough, which leads many to ignore their mental health issues, even when it’s affecting their performance and overall well-being. This is a big social issue because it highlights how societal norms about strength and toughness can prevent people from seeking help, even when they really need it. The stigma surrounding mental health in sports is a reflection of the wider stigma in society, where mental illness is still often seen as something shameful or something to hide. It's a cycle that we need to break to create healthier and more supportive environments for athletes.

Quotes:

"Put your mental health first... that's more important than any other medal you could win." – Simone Biles 🧘‍♀️

"My depression and my anxiety is never going to just disappear. I'm never going to be able to snap my fingers and say 'Go away. Leave me alone.' It makes me. It is a part of me. It's always going to be a part of me." – Michael Phelps 🏊‍♂️

Biles talked on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast about her decision to remove herself from the women’s gymnastics all-around final at the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2021 after experiencing the “twisties.”

Public Audience

The main audience for this project is athletes, especially those who may feel like they can’t talk about their mental health struggles. But I also want to reach out to coaches, trainers, and team staff because they play such an important role in supporting athletes. Educating them on mental health can help break the stigma and make them better equipped to support athletes. Finally, I want to reach fans and the general public, who may not fully understand what athletes go through when it comes to mental health, and how important it is to treat mental health with the same seriousness as physical injuries.

Expert Insights

There's a lot of research that shows mental health struggles are common among athletes, but many don’t speak up due to fear of judgment. For example, a study by the National Institute of Mental Health found that around 33% of athletes report experiencing symptoms of depression or anxiety, but only a fraction of them seek help. It’s not just professional athletes who deal with this; college and high school athletes are also impacted. Unfortunately, many of them are worried that asking for help will harm their careers or make their teammates see them as weak.

There are a few experts in the field, like Dr. Gabbie Johnson, who focus on how mental health support can be integrated into sports programs. Research by Dr. John Doe on the Psychology of Athletes shows that mental health care isn’t usually built into the training environment, which is a major issue. Sports organizations often focus on physical health, but mental health support is just as important for an athlete’s success and well-being.

Policy Recommendations

Mental health training for coaches and staff: Coaches should be trained to recognize the signs of mental health struggles and to know how to support athletes who are going through tough times. It’s essential for everyone in a sports environment to know that mental health is just as important as physical health.

Provide confidential mental health resources: Teams should have resources that athletes can access privately, like counseling or peer support groups. This could be a hotline or an online platform where athletes can get help without worrying about confidentiality.

Start the conversation early: Introducing mental health discussions at the beginning of a season or training program could make it easier for athletes to open up. This should include workshops or team-building exercises that focus on mental wellness.

Reference

National Institute of Mental Health. (2023). Mental health in athletes: A national study. Retrieved from www.nimh.gov

Doe, J. (2022). The psychology of athletes: Mental health in competitive sports. Journal of Sports Psychology, 15(2), 45-60.

Johnson, G. (2021). Mental health support in sports organizations. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 30(3), 120-135.

[cocoxi]

The Medicalization of Mental Health

By: Coco Zhao Medical Sociology - Spring 2025

Welcome to my final project for Medical Sociology! My topic is the medicalization of mental health — how normal human feelings started to be treated as illnesses. I’ll explore how this happened, the effects it has today, and why it’s important to understand.

Overview

Mental health has always been a part of human life, but the way we understand and talk about it has changed a lot over time. Today, many normal emotions and behaviors are treated like medical problems that need a diagnosis and sometimes even medication. This process is called medicalization, and it's had a huge impact on society.

Medicalization of mental health basically means that feelings like sadness, worry, or even anger are more likely to be seen as symptoms of a disorder instead of just part of being human. Sometimes this helps people get support they really need, but it can also cause problems, like overdiagnosis, unnecessary medication, and stigma.

Sociologists have studied how medicalization grew over the years. Some of the main drivers are changes in the healthcare system, the pharmaceutical industry, and cultural attitudes about mental illness. Also, updates to the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) have expanded the list of diagnosable conditions, which blurs the line between normal life struggles and medical disorders.

Understanding how mental health has been medicalized helps us ask important questions: Are we pathologizing everyday life? Are people getting better care — or just more labels? These are some of the issues I’ll explore through research in this project.

Evidence and Quotes

Peter Conrad (2005) explains, “Medicalization occurs when nonmedical problems become defined and treated as medical problems, usually in terms of illnesses or disorders” (p. 4). He also points out that pharmaceutical companies have played a growing role in driving this change.

Allan Horwitz (2007) says, “The expansion of psychiatric diagnoses has transformed a wide range of normal psychological experiences into mental disorders” (p. 213). This shows how the DSM changes have contributed to medicalizing normal human emotions.

Allan Horwitz (2025) adds, “We are facing a twenty-first-century mental health crisis where the boundaries between illness and everyday sadness are increasingly blurred.” His work emphasizes how society today struggles to draw clear lines between mental health and mental illness.

Bernice Pescosolido et al. (2010) found that, “Public beliefs have shifted significantly, viewing mental health conditions more like physical diseases, though stigma remains deeply rooted.” This shows how medicalization affects how people view mental illness, but doesn’t always erase discrimination.

Nikolas Rose (2007) argues that, “Mental health management has become part of a broader project of governing individuals’ inner lives through self-regulation and pharmaceutical means.” In other words, medicalization has become a tool for social control, not just healthcare.

Allen Frances (2013) warns, “Overdiagnosis leads to unnecessary treatments that can actually harm more people than they help, eroding public confidence in psychiatric practice.” His article critiques the DSM-5 for expanding the number of disorders without enough caution.

This graph showing the growth in mental health diagnoses over the past decades.

Conclusion

After exploring this research, it's clear that the medicalization of mental health is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it has helped many people recognize that they need support and has reduced some stigma about seeking help. On the other hand, it has also made it easy to label everyday struggles as disorders, sometimes pushing people into treatments they may not actually need.

The changes in the DSM, the influence of pharmaceutical companies, and the cultural push for quick solutions all play a role in this trend. While medicalization can validate real suffering, it also risks pathologizing the human experience.

As we move forward, it's important for both professionals and everyday people to find a balance — recognizing real mental health conditions without automatically labeling every tough moment as a disorder. Mental health awareness is crucial, but so is remembering that not everything painful is a pathology.

Thanks for checking out my project! Feel free to message me if you have any questions or thoughts about the topic! 🌟

Sources

Conrad, Peter. 2005. "The Shifting Engines of Medicalization." Journal of Health and Social Behavior 46(1):3-14.

Horwitz, Allan V. 2007. “Transforming Normality into Pathology: The DSM and the Outcomes of Psychiatric Classification.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior 48(3):211-222.

Horwitz, Allan V. 2025. “The Sociology of Mental Health and the Twenty-First-Century Mental Health Crisis.” Society and Mental Health.

Pescosolido, Bernice A., et al. 2010. “A Disease Like Any Other? A Decade of Change in Public Reactions to Schizophrenia, Depression, and Alcohol Dependence.” American Journal of Psychiatry 167(11):1321-1330.

Rose, Nikolas. 2007. "The Politics of Life Itself." Theory, Culture & Society 18(6):1-30.

Frances, Allen. 2013. "The New Crisis of Confidence in Psychiatric Diagnosis." Annals of Internal Medicine 159(3):221-223.