Grappling with Mental Health
As the British Wrestling Association continues to develop following the global pandemic of the last 24 months, we all understand now more than ever, that without a healthy mind, it is irrelevant how healthy your body is. You will not be able to perform at your best.
There has been a dramatic increase in Mental Health illnesses over the last 12 months. In 2020, there were 5,224 suicides registered in England and Wales, equivalent to an age – standardised mortality rate of 10.0 deaths per 100,000 people. Around three-quarters of registered suicide deaths in 2020 were for men (3,925 deaths; 75.1%), which follows a consistent trend back to the mid-1990s.
During the last Olympic Games in Tokyo, elite athletes like Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka, and Michael Phelps were actively advocating for mental health support for athletes.
There are numerous reasons why this illness hurts so many people and takes so many lives; people often know who they need or want to talk to, but are not able to start the conversation and don’t know how to open up to them. This can be due to embarrassment of the stigma of the illness, fear of information / conversations being leaked, fear of repercussions, such as being looked at / treated differently or being worried about not being taken seriously, or being told to “Man up”.
The BWA is going to be implementing a new Mental Health support system. This is for BWA Athletes (at any membership level), Coaches, Volunteers and families associated with our sport.
The important thing about this new support system, is all conversations will be confidential. If you need to reach out, you do not need to worry about any of your fellow Wrestlers, Colleagues, Coaches or Volunteers finding out. All communications will be treated with complete confidentiality.
The support system will be run by trained Mental Health volunteers and will also have access to and support from Mental Health Charities. These volunteers are not Councillors, but are being put in place to offer you support and help guide you through your mental health journey.
We all need to remember that;
- If we all support each other, this illness doesn’t win.
- We can remove the stigma associated with mental health illness, it is nothing to be embarrassed about.
- All suicides are preventable.
If you need to talk then please email support@britishwrestling.org please don’t be afraid to reach out.
