STATESBORO — Eliminate the stigma. Don’t be judgmental towards people with mental health issues. Be supportive and encourage those who are suffering in silence to get professional help.
“It’s okay to not be okay,” said Brandon Harris, professor at Georgia Southern University and the Director of the Sport and Exercise Psychology Program.
He is also a sports psychologist with Georgia Southern Athletics. Mental Performance Teamwhich provides a safe environment for “comprehensive, holistic, collaborative mental health services and optimal mental training services to student-athletes and athletic department stakeholders,” according to the athletic department’s website.
In other words, athletes, coaches and staff have access to resources to make them “the best version of themselves,” Harris said. From improving mental skills and performance on the playing field, to helping manage the demands and pressures of college sports and academics.
Harris is a key person for the football program’s partnership this month with Hilinski’s hopethe foundation that Kym and Mark Hilinski created in honor of their son Tyler, the former Washington State University quarterback who died by suicide after his junior season in January 2018.
The third annual College Football Mental Health Week took place October 1-8, and World Mental Health Day takes place on Monday, October 10. Georgia Southern was on the road for both of those Saturdays, so the Eagles shifted their participation slightly on the schedule. They wore stickers on their helmets Saturday at Georgia State and will do the same next Saturday against James Madison at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro.
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The sticker is a green ribbon with Tyler Hilinski’s number 3, one of several items aimed at increasing awareness and education about mental health and wellness programs. The initiative has the participation of approximately 120 schools, including James Madison, a member of the Sun Belt Conference.
“While conversations around mental illness can be difficult and sometimes uncomfortable, they are absolutely essential to the well-being of our student-athletes,” Kym Hilinski said in a press release from the nonprofit organization . “We spoke on dozens of campuses to encourage these conversations and share Tyler’s story. We miss Tyler every day, but we are grateful to know that what we do makes a difference and that he would be proud of us.
The mission is to make mental health a bigger part of the conversation and provide student-athletes and all students, coaches, staff, everyone, with information on how to get help.
Georgia Southern offers stickers, wristbands, bows and headbands provided by Hilinski’s Hope to athletes in different sports, Harris said. The university will also share content at the home game and on social media this week to draw attention to mental health resources.
Last season, with Georgia Southern’s first partnership with the annual program, Eagles defensive end Dillon Springer and center Logan Langemeier led player involvement, with video produced of various Eagles reading stanzas from the poem by Springer on the subject.
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“This is a special initiative,” said the Eagles first-year player. head coach Clay Helton. “I thank our student-athletes, who not only supported but engaged last year and continued this year.”
Helton has a personal connection to the Hilinski family. Helton was an assistant, offensive coordinator and then head coach at Southern Cal from 2010 to 2021. He remembers recruiting the Hilinski brothers to California – quarterbacks Kelly, Tyler and Ryan (formerly at South Carolina and now at Northwestern).
The world of college football is quite small in some ways and the death of Tyler Hilinski was shocking.
“Losing Tyler was devastating and heartbreaking, not only for the football community but for all parents,” Helton said. “I thank his parents and what they did to really put it as a talking point across the country.
“I’m so proud of our kids, they put it first,” the coach continued. “It’s one of the most important things that we have right now in college football as well as for young people, is to be there and support them because it’s a real thing. It’s something that’s happening across the country. Our first priority will always be the health and safety of our student-athletes and our students. I’m very proud of our students and our university for supporting this. It’s a great cause and it’s something we should all be talking about.
Redshirt sophomore linebacker Marques Watson-Trent said, “Mental health is a real thing” and it was important that they used their voices to raise awareness and provide information to those who need it.
I’m going to get help
There is a stigma associated with “help-seeking behavior” for mental health issues, Harris said. Think about how counterintuitive this is. We want and expect athletes to receive treatment for their physical well-being, and resources and funds are invested in this health category.
But sometimes the hard-nosed attitude applies to physical illnesses and many times the mental aspect is ignored. It can be complicated, uncomfortable, avoided, and it’s dangerous.
“For college football players, I think sometimes the perception might be that you’re talking about incredibly strong, tough human beings who do incredible things on the field,” Harris said.
But above all, they are human beings. And humans can face difficult times and situations, such as feeling pressure to perform at a high or even perfect level. Successes and failures are amplified beyond games and team dynamics and onto the internet via social media posts.
“Being a student-athlete doesn’t make them impervious to difficult scenarios,” Harris said. “They deserve the same type of support and resources as anyone else.”
Harris highlighted how high-profile professional and Olympic athletes have used their platform to share their personal struggles with mental health issues. This helps reduce stigma and normalizes the idea, as it should, that tackling mental health is a sign of strength. To be mentally strong, you have to be vulnerable and do difficult things.
This is a step in the right direction to change the culture towards greater acceptance.
“Talking about your mental health takes courage,” Ryan Hilinski said in a press release. “It shows strength to be vulnerable, but that’s what it takes to be real with your teammates, coaches and family. I’m proud of my family for creating Football Mental Health Week university to help all student-athletes know that they are not alone.”
There’s a big difference between feeling alone and truly being alone, Harris said.
“We want our student-athletes here on campus to know that they are never alone,” Harris said. “We have a lot of people who care deeply and resources here to help them in any way we can.”
Learn more about this
For a profile of the Hilinski family and its foundationas well as to learn more about University of Georgia athletes and how the UGA athletic department and other Southeastern Conference schools are addressing mental health issues, read the complete three-part series from journalist Marc Weiszer of the Athens Banner-Herald to https://www.onlineathens.com/story/sports/college/bulldogs-extra/2022/10/03/georgia-bulldogs-mental-health-uga-football/10387185002/.
This series contains discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.
To learn more about Hilinski’s Hope Foundation, visit https://www.hilinskishope.org/
Nathan Dominitz is the sports content editor for the Savannah Morning News and savannahnow.com. Email him at [email protected]. Twitter: @NathanDominitz
