Mental Health and Suicide among College Athletes: Contribution or Solution

The selected problem in the component two assignment is mental health and suicide among college athletes. As discussed, the collegiate population constitutes the highest number of mental health issues and suicide victims. Research, according to McQuade (2021), links this problem to the severe pressure imposed on college athletes to perform exemplary, the pressure to cope with athletic demands, lack of avenues to address and provide solutions to mental health issues, insufficient comprehension of the athletic surrounding, over-emphasis on mental toughness and lack of or insufficient training on mental health and stability. Some of these reasons have a high degree impact on leading college athletes to uncontrolled drug and substance abuse—as a means of dealing with depression—and ultimately suicide. Amidst this crisis that calls for an immediate response, there are some measures or solutions that may take charge of alleviating the problem of mental health and suicide use among college athletes. This paper focuses on these solutions and their validity in a clinical setting.