University of Wisconsin runner's passing

What?

The family has set up a Foundation designed to focus on student athletes mental health. It is in its earliest stages so they havent set up a way to contribute that I am aware of but hopefully soon.

They’ve also set up a site honoring Sara www.sarahshulze.com where any information about contributing should appear. The pictures of her so happy and carefree as a little girl are absolutely heart breaking to look at...

Ironically and perhaps tragically, Uncut Madison (www.uncutmadison.com) had already set up a panel discussion for May 3 called “Tackle the Stigma: A Conversation about Mental Health and Sports” featuring several current and former Badger athletes and staff members. So if you are local to the area and want to participate you can get tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tackle-the-stigma-a-conversation-about-mental-health-and-sports-tickets-312537657547. ALL proceeds from the ticket purchases will now go to the Sara Shulze Foundation as well.

One-third of degree-seeking college students said in a recent poll that they had considered
dropping out of school in the last six months — largely due to “emotional stress” — capturing the scope and gravity of mental health needs facing today’s college students.

Students stressed, worried about money, college presidents acknowledge | The Gazette

thegazette.com

Students stressed, worried about money, college presidents acknowledge | The Gazette

The Gazette

A third of degree-seeking students recently polled by Gallup and the Lumina Foundation said they considered dropping out in the last six months – largely due to “emotional stress” – capturing the scope and gravity of mental h...

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“We've got students with really basic needs,” Wilson said. “As one of our student life people said,‘You cannot know how many of our students are one flat tire away from dropping out of school.’ ”
“We cannot hire enough counselors at Iowa,” she said.

I lost a son to suicide 10 years ago. Most people don't think it can happen to their family so it hits like a 2X4 to the forehead. The pressure on this generation has multiplied: the cost of college has go up exponentially, they may never make more money than their parents, it is increasingly difficult to buy a home, COVID brought uncertainty and isolation into everything.

Society tells us to measure our success through fame, money and shiny material things, but Jim Carrey has it right when he says, "I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of, so they will know that its not not the answer."

The best we can do for our friends and loved ones is ALWAYS tell them how much we love them and that "Success is not what you do compared to other people. Success is what you do compared to what you were created to do." - Lecrae & Ephesians 2:10

If you are alive right now, if you are reading this, whether you are suffering or know somebody that is, YOU are part of God's Plan to save this broken world. Keep going. We love YOU and need YOU.

Too many think of mental illness as something you can talk away with friends. More like how you wouldn’t have your friend treat and broken bone or pulled muscle. No you need someone with training.

The problem with mandatory counseling is it still requires the individual to open up and be honest and trust the person they were forced to meet with.

All sympathy to all those affected.

I do wonder if the fairly high suicide rate in this country is a measure of failed psych strategies. We just drug all our kids who show signs of depression. If we look back in horror at something from this period, I think it will be the number of drugged children.
I can't help but think that is the wrong approach. I don't know exactly what is the right approach, but seems to trying to change the chemical nature of the brain with drugs, which can stop working at any time....and in people whose brains are changing as they mature...doesn't pass the BS meter.
Probably we should spend that money on building community and trying to teach people how to make and keep friends and how to be self sufficient.

You would be shocked if you knew how similar Ritalin, Adderall, Desoxyn and other commonly taken ADHD "study drugs" are to pharmaceutical-grade methamphetamine.

narconon.org

The Connection between ADHD Medications and Methamphetamine

I’ve often heard different drugs as being described as similar to one another. Many pharmaceutical drugs carry the same chemical compounds. Even some street drugs are close to each other. And we all know the iconic similariti...

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As someone who suffered severe mental health issues in high school and college to the point where I contemplated suicide several times, I think I can add to this conversation. I was an athlete in high school who had a couple of options to continue sports in college, but didn’t pursue it because I knew I was unwell.

Counseling has been a key part of my life several times. There is a wide range of quality, and the good counselors or social workers don’t accept health insurance. So I have a lot of thoughts about our system of health care, but I will stop there because while that is an important part of the conversation, I know it will derail the suicide conversation. Nonetheless, I’m not sure the best professionals in this field work at colleges.

My sister is currently struggling in the pandemic as a nurse, and she’s on medication but it’s not really helping. It helps her get through the day at a minimum, but does not resolve the root issues that her life is not great right now for a number of reasons beyond her job. I never took medication because I was very concerned about the side effects (some make you even more suicidal), but I know it helps a lot of people who are in very tough spots and medically imbalanced. That said, I don’t think you can shove medication at someone and make it all better.

Back to college — it is enormously difficult to see past what’s immediately in front of you. Either you, your peers or parents are acting like everything is a fire drill. The next homework assignment, the next track meet or game, the next job if that’s around the corner. It all seems bleak. The only way I survived any of it is I thought to myself, the only option I have is to finish college, get a job and move out of my parents’ house right away. (This is the early 2000s.) So all in all, I guess I still had tiny hopes something was better out there.

Then there are the broader issues of what we value as people, what we value in others, and what is “failure” or “success” in such an unequal society. Again, don’t want to derail, but I think about this often. I have a good paying job, own my own home, have an advanced degree but am single so I'm sure someone out there thinks I'm a failure because I don't have a family, but sometimes you just have to ignore the noise to survive and thrive.

The question is, is there something better out there for these kids suffering? My POV is, of course there is, despite all the current problems out there. But who is helping them see it this way? Or helping contribute to a world that is better for these kids?

I agree with the posters a few post up.. the NCAA has to do better.

i was a former ncaa track and XC athlete about 10 years ago and now looking back, I can say those were the worst 4 years of my life and the most unhappy I’ve ever been. From trying to manage academics, athletics, dating, parental and personal expectations, coaching expectations. While on a team… no one thought to ask- how are you doing? There was no one checking up on your mental health or overall well being. They were only interested in you showing up to practice and performing, while caring very little about your personal world that may be exploding outside the track. We can and must do better.

I work in mental health at a crisis center. We are trying to make mental health first aid as common as CPR.

If anyone wants to know how to help someone going through a mental health crisis, check out mentalhealthfirstaid.org. You can sign up for a training there to recognize the warning signs and how to appropriately approach someone going through a mental health crisis.

There seems to be a weakness in too many long distance runners. I don't see this as often with other student athletes. Heck, I don't see this as often from T&F athletes, 1500m and shorter events, jumpers and throwers.

OK thank you for your contribution here but you do not understand this subject at all. Mental health issues can and do afflict every demographic.

You’re not wrong at all, but it may open doors for people who are struggling. Having a professional be able to flag individuals who they think may be struggling even if they don’t fully open up. I do think often times people have a hard time finding someone they can actually trust within the athletic department. I was lucky to have one person who I felt I could talk to about anything I was going through. I was at a large power 5 with all the resources you could imagine, we had 2 sports pyschs, I was never required to see them. For me it’s been since I have retired that I have dealt with some really dark thoughts and self destructive actions, I think having a check in post graduation may be helpful as well. I just think the NCAA needs to realize this is a problem, you can fix muscles and bones, but you can’t bring someone back to life. The NCAA should hold some form of responsibility over that considering how much of a hold they have on student athletes lives. This sport can really mess you up sometimes if the right support system is not there.

My post has been referenced or responded to enough that I feel I should reply with more information about my personal experience that informed my comment.

I lived with undiagnosed OCD for most of my life before it spiraled out of control in my early 20s. I eventually found a therapist who specialized in treating OCD patients with ERP which has virtually eliminated my symptoms. However, the road to get here took many years and was filled with very low moments dealing with uninitiated primary care medical providers and the plethora of treatment that oriented around CBT techniques. Once I found a good therapist, recovery was actually quite fast. It's the sorting through all the noise that was the big problem and having to become an educated consumer of mental health care.

To those who are struggling, I absolutely recommend treatment, the challenge is finding effective treatment from a qualified counselor that you feel confident in and trust. I fear that the general public's mental health needs have never quite outpaced the capability of the system to treat, especially in the wake of the pandemic.

Definitely agree with how much NCAA and being a student athlete can have such control over your life. Add in a controlling coach and toxic team culture and you can feel quite isolated and defined by your performance.

JMU’s Lauren Bernett would disagree. RIP

I also worry that now that parents have to attend every game and every track meet of these kids….these kids develop an inability to do things just for themselves. They attach too much to other people. And then in college when they stop getting all that parental attention - or any attention- they are obsessed with that lack and flail.
parents: part of your job is to let your kids have a life outside of you so they can develop self reliance and deal with failure all by themselves.

probably not just a sports problem - the parents who sit over their kids to get the homework done and drive them to all those activists.