Mind and Soul of the Athlete

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COMMENTARY

“When I got injured, what I leaned on the heaviest was my faith and my therapist.” A former NBA player told me this as he described his recovery from a devastating and potentially career-ending injury. For an elite athlete, faith is often an integral part of overall well-being. It is no surprise that during team “chapel time,” there is often something that is shared by the chaplain as well as the team psychologist or psychiatrist. The mind and soul of the player are deeply impacted by elements that are discussed in faith traditions as well as therapeutic approaches. How does one view themselves in the face of failure or challenges? How can one challenge a thought that is heavy and weighing them down?

At this year’s Paris Olympics, I was delighted to spend time in the Team USA House discussing sports and mental health with the athletes and their families. One of the most notable conversations I had was with Ms Sonia Curry, the mother of one of the most recognizable athletes in the world, Stephen Curry. She told me that laying the foundation in her 2 sons, who would later go on to play in the NBA, was critical. Because their father, Dell Curry, had a long NBA career, Sonia was familiar with the challenges and pressures that are on the shoulders of a player.

“It can make you crumble if you are not prepared,” She said. She went on to explain that the roots of resilience that were planted in Steph were essential to protect him from the coming adversity. She emphasized to Steph and Seth from an early age that protecting their minds was just as important as protecting their bodies from injury. After his historic performance in the gold medal game, Stephen went on to discuss how we struggled in the first few games mentally. He quoted his favorite scripture of Philippians 4:13, which is printed on all his shoes and allows his mind to focus.

Mena Mirhom, MD, with Dwight Howard

More recently, I sat down with NBA Champion, Dwight Howard, who has been shining on the dance floor on “Dancing with the Stars.” Coincidentally, he also said the same verse was the most meaningful to him and got him through many of his most difficult times in the NBA.

Any New Yorker who is a basketball fan also recalls the days of “Linsanity”—which was the rise of Jeremy Lin, an Asian-American player who captivated the city and the country with his brilliant play after he was on the verge of being cut from the league entirely. In the documentary “Linsanity,” Jeremy discussed sleeping on a teammates’ couch because he had no expectation of continuing to play in the NBA. He described the mental battle of feeling like you are capable of achieving what you trained for your whole life, but falling short and feeling like you are letting yourself and your team down. He credits his faith and the psychological support of those around him for the liberating reframe he experienced. “I started playing for an audience of One…and that was Jeremy Lin basketball.” Here was this young man who was at the very end of the bench and was on the verge of being removed from the team, who exploded onto the scene with one game winner after another in the world’s most famous arena.

To our patients, we can draw this same parallel. Sports are often seen as a metaphor for life and this may be part of the reason we are so captivated by them. The battle, conquest, and victory in sports are what we are all striving for in one way or another. Athletes might deal with adversity or push themselves beyond their usual limits, and we can see similar experiences with our patients. We can curiously explore how a patient’s faith tradition can be a source of hope, strength, encouragement, and resilience. I am often pleasantly surprised by the creativity of a patient and how small seeds of their faith tradition are often incredibly meaningful to them and can be used as the core belief to foster in therapy.

Dr Mirhom is the immediate past president of the New York County Psychiatric Society, an assistant professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University, codirector of the PPF Express Program, and the Chief Wellbeing Officer at Athletes for Hope.