Exploring the Impact of Integrating Mental Health in Athletics
BDIPS Chief Health and Wellness Officer, Ramon Jauregui, has been a Mixed Martial Arts fighter for five years and spends time teaching youth and adult classes.
“Before I even thought about boxing as therapy, I knew the good it was doing for people, especially in the youth,” Jauregui explained. “I've witnessed firsthand what martial arts can do for an individual. I explain that martial arts is all about controlling your emotions.”
Jauregui’s relationship with BDIPS CEO Darryl Sewell transitioned from coach and student to friends to business partners when Sewell expressed what therapeutic boxing was, and wanted to transform boxing into a modality for therapy.
Therapeutic boxing is one of the many services BDIPS offers to clients, and in Jauregui’s role, he hires and works with coaches, in addition to taking on his own client caseload.
Though therapy has become more normalized in recent years, stigma and reluctance still exist around access to mental health services, especially among men.“I think the younger we talk about it and the more we talk about it [can help], and we let people know that it's okay to talk about it, especially with men,” explained Pa'Cjon Smith, a licensed clinical social worker and clinical supervisor at BDIPS. According to Smith, men are often discouraged from talking about their feelings and are encouraged to “man up.”
“Men go through the same emotions that women do; feelings are not gender based, they're human based. Men go through traumatic events, men go through depression, and men have body issues,” Smith continued.
In California, men aged 15 to 44 die by suicide at 3 to 4 times the rate of women, and depression is ranked as a leading cause of death among men, with mental health conditions often going untreated among men.Notably, among young professional athletes, suicide rates have increased. Young athletes such as 25-year-old NFL player Rondale Moore and 24-year-old LSU football player Kyren Lacy took their own lives recently, prompting a revisit to the conversation around men and their mental health.
“Of course the average person [has] day-to-day stressors that can contribute to burnout, anxiety, or depression, but a lot of times with athletes, you can see it on a different level, because they definitely have more unique situations that they deal with,” Smith said. “And a lot of times, it's not talked about. It can be very stigmatized, and I think sometimes people forget that mental health and athletic performance is not a separate issue.”
Smith emphasized the importance of integrating mental health into athletic spaces, among various ages, sports and at different levels to begin normalizing therapy and supporting athletes’ overall long-term health. While sports often emphasizes physical training and nutrition, psychological health is often left out.
In an organization like BDIPS that practices whole health, therapeutic boxing teaches those who participate how to regulate their emotions by controlling aggression until the proper moment, and being strategic in their movements, according to Jauregui. Though therapeutic boxing is often misunderstood or misconstrued as being aggressive, Smith noted that this approach helps participants grow emotionally and mentally, and practice stress reduction through fixed movements and physical exertion.
“Whether someone is fighting anxiety, depression, addiction, trauma, grief, low self-esteem, or life adversity, boxing repeatedly gives them evidence that they can face discomfort, stay present, adapt, and keep moving forward,” Jauregui said.
For individuals who are curious about therapy and don’t know where or how to start, Smith and Jauregui shared the following steps to getting started:
“The first step is understanding that you need help. I think that's the hardest part — people being self-aware and acknowledging that there's something going on, or that they need to talk to somebody,” Smith said.
“Then, I think it's important to psycho-educate because there are different forms of therapy. There's talk therapy, there's [Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing], there's just so many various forms of therapy, so I think it's psychoeducating, and then trying it,” Smith continued.
“I would say experiment. We created therapeutic boxing because, for me personally, boxing is my passion and I wanted to share that with people, but I know that not everyone connects to boxing the way that I do. Now, there are people that have never experienced boxing before and they find out that it's their new love. At BDIPS, we have plans to create multiple modalities to have outlets for everyone,” Jauregui shared.
“The great thing I love about BDIPS is we offer such a variety of different types of programs and outlets, from therapeutic boxing to our yoga,” Smith said. “I think once people learn and they educate and they try it, they'll realize that they'll love it, but it definitely starts with the self awareness of something's not right or I need help or I need to talk to somebody.”
To learn more about the different therapies and services BDIPS offers, visit https://www.bdips.org/bdips-services-explained.