Mental health at the games - it takes a (Olympic) village

Emily Clark is not a household name among U.S. Olympians participating in the Summer Games in Paris, but she is a member of one of the largest teams, boasting 18 members.

Clark is a member of the U.S. Psychological Services team, a collection of mental health professionals on the ground in France to support the mental and psychological well-being of Team USA’s athletes. (She’s also certified in the use of neurofeedback – a point we’ll return to shortly.)

The Beijing Winter Games two years ago were the first with extra credentials issued for national Olympic committees to bring athlete “welfare officers,” which are classified as registered mental health professionals or qualified safeguarding experts. More than 170 of these professionals from more than 90 countries are in Paris.

Of course, as was noted in this space a few days ago, the delayed Tokyo Summer Olympics of 2021 was the event that truly changed the conversation around the mental health of Olympians. From the debate as to whether the pandemic-riddled games, which featured just 20,000 attendees compared to the 15 million descending on Paris – to the abrupt exit of U.S. star gymnast Simone Biles, the Tokyo Games brought the mental health discussion into the spotlight.

The changes in Paris are many and they are front and center.

There is a 24/7 helpline with mental health counselors who speak more than 70 languages, a program started for the Beijing Games but is now available to every Olympian and Paralympian until four years after the event. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has also provided 2,000 licenses to athletes for the Calm app as a day-to-day attempt to support well-being. Alongside the gym in the Olympic Village, there is a “mind zone” with a yoga area, low lighting, comfortable seating, and other tools dedicated to disconnection and decompression.

Kirsty Burrows, head of the safe sport unit at the IOC, told the UK’s Guardian newspaper that these environments are an essential inclusion for athletes. “They should feel that there are support systems around them. They should feel if they have a concern around mental health or wellbeing or any areas, that they are able to speak up and they’re able to seek support. And there are systems in place that help them to do that,” says Burrows.

For the first time, the Games will also be utilizing artificial intelligence to monitor the social media channels of the athletes for cyberbullying, one of the more underreported challenges faced by athletes at the Games. Violations are flagged and anything confirmed as abuse is removed from the platform before the individual sees it, with any criminal content sent to law enforcement. 

It's also important that many of these tools are, as noted above, extended to the athletes for as many as four years after the Games in an effort to curb the “post-Olympic blues” that afflict many once the adrenaline of the Games is over or, in some cases, their entire athletic careers have come to a close.

These are just some examples of the newer technologies and approaches being used to extend the benefits of mental health and fitness. Others like neurofeedback, which Clark is certified in the use of, have been a growing topic in these circles as well, even though early adopters have been dipping their toe in as far back as the 2012 Summer Games in London. That’s when legendary beach volleyball player Kerri Walsh-Jennings employed it en route to her third straight gold medal with partner Misty May despite the age and injury challenges experienced by the duo. 2012 is also the year our team at alphabeats validated our first prototype and digital training in a lab setting – going on to perfect a technology geared precisely for the elite athletes Clark and her team now serve.

We’ve spent the 12+ years since exploring and validating how neurofeedback and the accessing of alpha waves can not only enhance athletic performance but also contribute to positive mental health. But we also realize that the collective care of these athletes sometimes takes a village, in this case an Olympic village. We’re glad that the IOC heard the calls for help in 2021 and have answered them with efforts worthy of those given by its athletes.