Former IU Defensive Back A’Shon Riggins grew up in a minority community that emphasized hiding emotions and being tough.
The honorable-mention BTN.com All-Freshman began his IU football career as a starter. Tragedy struck during his junior season when he suffered from two concussions and the trauma of losing consciousness for a long period of time — which led to his diagnosis of anxiety and depression.
“Going into my junior year I had told my coaching staff and trainers that if I suffered from another concussion, I would be done,” Riggins said. “I was alternating starting and not starting, I just wasn’t doing good in school, I was kind of distancing myself from my friends. I just wasn’t really happy.”
On Sept. 25, 2018 Riggins attempted suicide.
According to a 2011 NCAA article titled Mind, Body and Sport: The psychologist perspective, a survey of collegiate athletes and non-athletes stated that more than 41 million U.S. adults over the age of 18 had a diagnosed mental disorder while nearly 9 million had a mental illness that greatly affected their day-to-day routine.
“What we’re seeing now with the research and what our student athletes are reporting to us is that a lot of people are endorsing symptoms related to anxiety and depression and if not at a clinical level certainly at a sub-clinical level,” Dr. Jesse Steinfeld, the sports psychologist and director of IU’s Sport and Performance Psychology Practicum said.
A sports psychologist is a specialist that focuses on the link between the psychological and physical factors affecting performance in competitive sports and athletic activity, according to psychology.org. Their position is crucial in keeping track of the mental well-being of athletes.
Steinfeldt describes the technique behind sports psychology and its uniqueness in comparison to regular therapy.
“There’s still this stigma around psychology, and particularly sports psychology, that you’re weak or you’re lesser because you seek help, but the reality is we flip the script and say ‘man you’re strong. This is like a strength and conditioning coach in the weight room, we’re going to make you mentally strong,'” Steinfeldt said.
In a 2019 Forbes article titled, “The Mental Health of Student-Athletes: A Necessary Operational Investment In Contemporary Collegiate Athletes,” trends showed that athletes tend to have more acute mental health needs. In the article, Tory Lindley, President of National Athletic Trainers’ Association, said that 35% of student-athletes access mental health support as compared to only 16% of the general student population.
“Student-athletes in reality have two full-time jobs,” Steinfeldt said. “The extra burdens make it harder for student-athletes. The cumulative weight that exists is something that we as sports psychologists can help them figure out how to pull those things off their shoulders.”
IU in particular is one university that has acknowledged the increased importance of mental health services for athletes and have taken action. They now have two full-time licensed mental health professionals in the athletic department. Troy Moles, first year director of counseling and sports psychology, brings a background in sports and a great knowledge of how to care for athletes’ mental health.
“There’s a specific set of demands and stressors on this population that’s different, or above and beyond what another population might have,” Moles said. “To have someone that actually understands what it’s like to be in that environment, to understand the specific nuances and the culture that comes with athletics, is really helpful to be able to connect with those athletes.”
Riggins recognized that while more services are becoming available, male athletes in particular are more hesitant to seek out help because of the way they were raised and the tough stature they were taught to uphold.
“What I battled with is that I was just holding everything in,” Riggins said. “I didn’t really know much about sports psychology and mental health because of how I was raised. In the minority community, it’s either football or you’re on the streets, and my only route was sports. I never had any external support, besides sports, that taught me ‘you’re more than just a football player.’”
After his attempted suicide, Riggins spent three days in the hospital where he vowed to make a change so that what happened to him wouldn’t happen to anyone else. He created a mental health program in the IU Athletic Department called ‘Real Spill. Real Stories. Real People.’
“Male athletes came in and had an open dialogue about whatever they wanted to talk about,” Riggins said. “It was just the whole idea of letting loose as a man and normalizing the dialogue of mental health challenges.”
Now a first year graduate student at the IU School of Education, Riggins is working to get a master’s degree in mental health counseling with the ultimate goal of becoming a sports psychologist.
His goal: to make an impact on people’s lives and encourage the de-stigmatization of sports psychology.
“We don’t emphasize sports psychology enough, and I think we need to,” Riggins said.
Riggins speaks of his continued efforts to put an emphasis on the mental health of athletes as he spoke with the Big Ten Mental Health Committee over the summer.
