Suicide prevention and mental health education increased from 2008 to 2020, with both trends showing significance levels of P
https://standingabovethecrowd.com/james-donaldson-on-mental-health-examining-mental-health-and-substance-use-education-in-middle-and-high-schools/
UNC School of Education faculty are looking at factors inside schools that may affect students’ mental health.
Constance Lindsay is researching the connection between school discipline and the increasing rates of Black youth suicide.Constance Lindsay, assistant professor at the UNC School of Education, is conducting research alongside Carolina professors to learn about increasing suicide rates among Black youth over the past several years.
Broadly, her work focuses on evaluating policies and practices to close racial achievement gaps in education. Part of this research is looking at what’s happening inside schools, by studying teachers, leaders and educators.
Another part of Lindsay’s work is seeing what then happens outside of schools — how factors inside schools may affect student behavior and outcomes beyond the school building.
“As we know, these rates are going up, so we are trying to investigate why,” said Lindsay. “We want to make this connection explicit between receiving discipline in schools and students’ later mental health outcomes.”
This research is an interdepartmental collaboration within the school, with Lindsay and associate professors Marissa Marraccini and Dana Griffin. They are looking at Black youth, inside and outside of school, to see what contributes to their mental health outcomes.
Lindsay first learned of Marraccini and Griffin’s work from the school’s lightning symposium, a recurring event where professors give a five-minute overview of their work. From there, the three came together to think how they could apply their individual expertise and findings to solve this issue. They started writing a research paper during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was published a year later in School Psychology Review and garnered attention.
In that publication, they focused on providing school-based professionals, from counselors to teachers, to with existing resources to develop holistic approaches to mental health care for younger Black males, relating to trauma, justice and equity. But this work raised new questions for their research.
“Being at a place like Carolina where I can collaborate with other schools and professors made me want to dig deeper,” said Lindsay.
Lindsay and her colleagues hoped to receive funding to analyze the topic more in depth to help North Carolina children.
In 2023, the Student Experience Research Network gave the group a grant to collect more data on the topic. The trio will use the funding to start making the connection between disparities in discipline and later mental health outcomes for Black students.
The Walton Family Foundation also awarded the trio a grant to extend their data collection for several more years. They recently submitted a paper where they conducted a national review of all state education policies relating to Black youth to provide more quantitative analysis.
#James Donaldson notes:
Welcome to the “next chapter” of my life… being a voice and an advocate for #mentalhealthawarenessandsuicideprevention, especially pertaining to our younger generation of students and student-athletes.
Getting men to speak up and reach out for help and assistance is one of my passions. Us men need to not suffer in silence or drown our sorrows in alcohol, hang out at bars and strip joints, or get involved with drug use.
Having gone through a recent bout of #depression and #suicidalthoughts myself, I realize now, that I can make a huge difference in the lives of so many by sharing my story, and by sharing various resources I come across as I work in this space. #http://bit.ly/JamesMentalHealthArticle
Find out more about the work I do on my 501c3 non-profit foundation
website www.yourgiftoflife.org Order your copy of James Donaldson's latest book,
#CelebratingYourGiftofLife: From The Verge of Suicide to a Life of Purpose and Joy
www.celebratingyourgiftoflife.com
Link for 40 Habits Signup
bit.ly/40HabitsofMentalHealth
If you'd like to follow and receive my daily blog in to your inbox, just click on it with Follow It. Here's the link https://follow.it/james-donaldson-s-standing-above-the-crowd-s-blog-a-view-from-above-on-things-that-make-the-world-go-round?action=followPub
Having already done interviews with school-based professionals, like counselors and administrators, the group plans to interview parents. They have co-designed sessions, bringing their research together into action for school-based professionals and parents to support the mental health needs of Black youth and work to prevent suicide.
The group’s research is already being integrated into the School of Education’s school counseling and school psychology programs, which are training school professionals to provide mental health resources and care to K-12 students.
“We want to offer solutions,” said Lindsay. “Our research has a holistic way of thinking about mental health that is useful for interacting with youth, so there is a lot of potential moving forward.”
Lindsay hopes in the future the group can show the connection between early discipline experiences and later mental health outcomes to help school-based educators, professionals and administrators to truly understand the implications of in-school behaviors.
Photo by Nicholas Githiri on Pexels.com
https://standingabovethecrowd.com/james-donaldson-on-mental-health-why-is-black-youth-suicide-on-the-rise/
Image: UnsplashSouth Africa marks Teen Suicide Prevention Week from February 9-16, highlighting the growing issue of teen suicide. SADAG’s National Toll-Free Suicide Crisis Helpline receives numerous calls from teens seeking help for themselves or friends
The pressures facing today’s generation of adolescents and young adults are taking a toll on their mental health, increasing the risk of drug addiction and suicide.
“Even in the best of circumstances, adolescence and the transition from childhood to adulthood is a vulnerable phase of development,” says Dr Kavendren Odayar, a psychiatrist practicing at Netcare Akeso Gqeberha, ahead of Teen Suicide Prevention Week.
“For any young person, it can be difficult to adjust to the rapid physical and emotional changes during this time – even without a mental health disorder in the picture. Parents, teachers, and caregivers should therefore be alert to signs that could suggest adolescents or teenagers are struggling,” Dr Odayar says.
“Many of us may remember how the challenges we faced at school and shifts in understanding of individual identity impacted our emotional state. On top of this, the current generation of young people still bears the mental health scars of the Covid-19 lockdown.
“In the past five years, data suggests that adolescent mental health has been deteriorating worldwide with high rates of depression, anxiety, and trauma-related outcomes including substance abuse.”
The prolonged period of social isolation and social distancing during the pandemic could have disrupted certain aspects of the critical development that takes place during adolescence. “This isolation goes against the social nature of human beings, and many teenagers are still living with the consequences of mental disorders that developed or escalated during lockdown,” he says.
“Temptation to experiment with drugs in the context of this mental health pandemic is more likely to be amplified, potentially leading to full-blown substance use disorders as there is known to be a relationship between addiction and other types of mental health disorders.”
Dr Odayar says many families prefer not to think about teenagers or adolescents taking their own lives and may not realise the full implications of changes in behavior that could indicate mental health concerns.
“This is significant, as adolescent suicide is most frequently due to mental illness, and suicide has been documented as the second largest contributor to adolescent mortality.”
Image: Unsplash#James Donaldson notes:
Welcome to the “next chapter” of my life… being a voice and an advocate for #mentalhealthawarenessandsuicideprevention, especially pertaining to our younger generation of students and student-athletes.
Getting men to speak up and reach out for help and assistance is one of my passions. Us men need to not suffer in silence or drown our sorrows in alcohol, hang out at bars and strip joints, or get involved with drug use.
Having gone through a recent bout of #depression and #suicidalthoughts myself, I realize now, that I can make a huge difference in the lives of so many by sharing my story, and by sharing various resources I come across as I work in this space. #http://bit.ly/JamesMentalHealthArticle
Find out more about the work I do on my 501c3 non-profit foundation
website www.yourgiftoflife.org Order your copy of James Donaldson's latest book,
#CelebratingYourGiftofLife: From The Verge of Suicide to a Life of Purpose and Joy
www.celebratingyourgiftoflife.com
Link for 40 Habits Signup
bit.ly/40HabitsofMentalHealth
If you'd like to follow and receive my daily blog in to your inbox, just click on it with Follow It. Here's the link https://follow.it/james-donaldson-s-standing-above-the-crowd-s-blog-a-view-from-above-on-things-that-make-the-world-go-round?action=followPub
Young people experiencing anxiety, depression, or other ‘unseen’ emotional or psychiatric issues may find it hard to put what they are going through into words or might feel a sense of shame about speaking up about it to their parents, other adults or even their peers.
“To this day, there is still unfortunately sometimes a stigma attached to mental health, and this can result in young people feeling distressed and not seeking help. Given the high incidence of suicide in this age group, I would urge families to check in with the younger generation and ask them about how they are coping in a supportive, sensitive way.
“In the fast pace of day-to-day life, it is all too easy to lose touch with young people – even if they are living under the same roof. Early detection is key to preventing suicide. Parents, please talk to your children and take notice of them – no matter how busy you may be,” he says.
Social withdrawal, changes in eating or sleeping patterns, and acting out in ways that seem out of character can indicate potential cause for concern, as mental illness is picked up by those closest to them who notice changes in the person’s behavior.
“These warning signs suggest the need to seek professional help. A young person talking about death or suicide is even more urgent and should never be ignored, dismissed, or punished.
“While there are not always noticeable signs of a young person’s suicidal intention, as a society, we need more awareness and less stigma to help adolescents and teenagers find mental health support to help prevent such tragedies wherever possible,” Dr Odayar says.
https://standingabovethecrowd.com/james-donaldson-on-mental-health-teen-suicide-prevention-week-this-is-how-you-can-talk-to-your-child-about-mental-health/
How a therapy called CBITS helps children who have experienced trauma
Writer: Molly Hagan
Clinical Experts: Katie Peinovich, LCSW , Lisa H. Jaycox, PhD
Research shows that childhood exposure to trauma is far more common than one might think, with two-thirds of kids having had at least one adverse experience and more than 1 in 5 having had three or more.
Living through an upsetting event can feel isolating — even when that event is shared, like a school shooting or a wildfire. (Because trauma is a clinical term, many clinicians don’t use the word traumatic until they understand the impact of the event on the child.) This is partly because people process events differently. And an event that is experienced as traumatic for one child may not be traumatic for another. But when a child does experience symptoms of trauma, it can affect their life and functioning in a host of ways.
“Trauma symptoms can be really, really disruptive to kids across many aspects of their lives,” says Katie Peinovich, LCSW, a licensed clinical social worker at the Child Mind Institute. Symptoms can affect kids in school and make it hard for them to think clearly, she says, and hurt their relationships with family and friends. Trauma symptoms also can affect their self-esteem and how they view themselves and the world.
“When you can alleviate some of those symptoms,” Peinovich says, “you can really increase a child’s level of functioning and help them feel safer.”
Over the last two decades, schools have become increasingly invested in addressing symptoms of trauma in their students through programs like CBITS — not to be confused with CBIT, a behavioral therapy for kids with tic disorders. A good way to remember is that the “S” in CBITS stands for schools.
Cognitive behavioral intervention for trauma in schools, or CBITS, is a school-based mental health program that helps kids manage symptoms of trauma.
Kids need to feel safe in order to learn, but offering trauma intervention services at school has other benefits, too. While there is effective individual therapy for children who have experienced trauma, called trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy (TF-CBT), many children may not have access to it.
“The beauty of schools is that the kids are already there,” says Lisa H. Jaycox, PhD, a senior behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation. Parents and caregivers don’t have to worry about finding a provider or transportation, paying for services, or scheduling appointments. And for kids, participating in a school-based program helps reduce the shame and self-blame that can come after a distressing event — nagging worries that there is something wrong with them or that they’re the only one reacting this way.
Kids who are struggling often don’t recognize that their problems are related to the trauma, which may have happened much earlier. “They feel like it’s just part of them, and they’re not really relating it back to the traumatic experience,” says Dr. Jaycox. “So, part of what we do is help kids understand how symptoms are related and how they can start to address them through different skills and coping strategies.”
CBITS is designed to meet the needs of children from kindergarten through high school who have been exposed to a disturbing event — even if they haven’t been clinically diagnosed with PTSD, as is most often the case.
Dr. Jaycox was instrumental in developing the CBITS program with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) starting in the late 1990s. At the time, the district’s mental health services were strained. In some schools, “every single kid” reported having seen a gang assault, shooting, or death. LAUSD reached out to the RAND Corporation for help addressing their students’ needs on a larger scale. What is significant about CBITS, Dr. Jaycox notes, is that it was created and researched in tandem with scientists and the school.
The scientists worked with school-based social workers in diverse groups, which included recent immigrants. “So, we were dealing with multiple languages and cultures right from the beginning,” Dr. Jaycox says.
Dr. Jaycox and her colleagues brought the program to students in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and worked with the National Native Children’s Trauma Center to adapt the CBITS manual for Native American youth. They also continue to adapt and evolve the program for kids in foster care and in different countries, including China, Guyana, and Japan.
First, students are assessed to see if they would benefit from the program. Screenings look a bit different depending on the school, but clinicians are looking for kids who 1) have been exposed to an upsetting event and 2) are continuing to experience symptoms of distress. Screenings are meant to catch moderately severe but subtle symptoms that even the most attentive teachers or caregivers might have missed.
Right after an upsetting event, most people experience some symptoms of trauma that might include the following:
These symptoms can dissipate on their own. But if they persist for too long, it’s a sign a child might need extra help coping.
CBITS programs are run by trained mental health professionals. (There is also a version called Support for Students Exposed to Trauma (SSET) designed to be implemented by nonclinical staff, like teachers.) Groups consist of 6 to 10 kids who meet in 45-minute sessions (the length of an average class period) once a week for 10 to 12 weeks.
CBITS incorporates aspects of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which is based on the idea that if we can recognize how our feelings influence our thoughts, we can learn to better manage our behaviors.
In group sessions, kids learn relaxation skills, like breathing exercises they can use to calm down, but they also learn ways to address maladaptive thinking, Dr. Jaycox explains. For example, “Something bad happened to me, so I must be a bad person.” Or: “Someone hurt me, so I can’t trust other people.”
“We work on addressing those thoughts, challenging them, and trying to come up with a more realistic ways to think about it,” she says.
The program also targets avoidant behaviors. Say for example, a child was in a bad car accident. They may avoid traveling in a car or even crossing the street on the way to school. It’s OK to be afraid of things — but it becomes a problem when kids feel controlled by their fears.
“We develop a list of things that they may be avoiding because they’re trauma-related but otherwise are safe,” Dr. Jaycox says. “We develop a hierarchy of those things that are making them anxious. And then we work on approaching them in a safe way so that they can get used to them again and have that anxiety dissipate.”
The CBITS program also includes up to three one-on-one sessions with a child and the clinician. Part of this work involves creating a trauma narrative.
Upsetting memories are often fragmented, which can cause anxiety, Dr. Jaycox explains. “Deliberately thinking about the event or writing about it makes it a more coherent memory and a more coherent story,” she says. “Creating a narrative is a kind of exposure and habituation to the trauma that helps kids feel more in control when they’re thinking about it” — lessening the anxiety that the memory carries over time.
To help kids understand the concept of habituation, Peinovich says she’ll sometimes ask if they’ve ever seen a scary movie.
“The first time you see it, it feels super, super scary. The jump scares are really surprising, and you don’t know what’s going to happen next,” Peinovich says, emphasizing the physical sensations — like feeling your heart race — that come with being afraid.
“But then the next time you see it, what is that like? You know when the jump scares are coming now. So maybe they still surprise you, but it’s not quite as bad. Or not quite as scary. And what about the third or fourth time?”
“It’s just sort of an illustration about the way that your emotions change the more you engage with something.”
The clinician also works with a child to decide how they want to share their experience in group sessions. Groups sessions are important because they help kids see that they’re not alone, even if their individual experiences are different. But descriptions are purposefully kept general, brief, and direct: “I was in a car accident,” or “I got hurt in a car accident.”
In group, the goal is the act of sharing, not processing the details. “We don’t want them to be carrying around each other’s traumatic experiences,” Peinovich says. “We want sharing to feel positive and supportive, not overwhelming.”
Talking about upsetting things is difficult, but providing kids with straightforward language helps them understand that it’s also safe and OK to do, Peinovich explains. In individual sessions, “we don’t want to make them worry that they’re going to overwhelm us with the information, or that what they’re talking about is something that is super bad or distressing to talk about,” she says.
“I think sometimes when you qualify too much — like, ‘I know this might be really hard, and this can be really uncomfortable to talk about’ — what you’re communicating to the child is, ‘Oh, this is a really big thing.’”
Peinovich says her goal is to separate the intensity of the feelings from the recounting: “Like, ‘Hey, this is a really hard experience that you had but it doesn’t mean anything bad about you. So, let’s talk about it.’”
#James Donaldson notes:
Welcome to the “next chapter” of my life… being a voice and an advocate for #mentalhealthawarenessandsuicideprevention, especially pertaining to our younger generation of students and student-athletes.
Getting men to speak up and reach out for help and assistance is one of my passions. Us men need to not suffer in silence or drown our sorrows in alcohol, hang out at bars and strip joints, or get involved with drug use.
Having gone through a recent bout of #depression and #suicidalthoughts myself, I realize now, that I can make a huge difference in the lives of so many by sharing my story, and by sharing various resources I come across as I work in this space. #http://bit.ly/JamesMentalHealthArticle
Find out more about the work I do on my 501c3 non-profit foundation
website www.yourgiftoflife.org Order your copy of James Donaldson's latest book,
#CelebratingYourGiftofLife: From The Verge of Suicide to a Life of Purpose and Joy
www.celebratingyourgiftoflife.com
Link for 40 Habits Signup
bit.ly/40HabitsofMentalHealth
If you'd like to follow and receive my daily blog in to your inbox, just click on it with Follow It. Here's the link https://follow.it/james-donaldson-s-standing-above-the-crowd-s-blog-a-view-from-above-on-things-that-make-the-world-go-round?action=followPub
CBITS is an intervention, not an ongoing treatment plan. The goal is to help kids gain control of their symptoms, referring them elsewhere for other mental health needs, as necessary. Extensive research shows that programs like CBITS are effective, significantly reducing symptoms of PTSD and depression.
Peinovich, who has been delivering trauma services to kids for 25 years, says that she is continually struck by kids’ ability to bounce back from hardship with just a small amount of support.
“I came into this work with the idea that children are resilient and that they can get through a lot,” she says. “So, when I see that happen, it’s not necessarily like, ‘Oh wow, I can’t believe it!’ It’s more just like, ‘Wow, they really can do this!’”
How to help a child with trauma symptoms in school? What is CBITS therapy?
CBITS (cognitive behavioral intervention for trauma in schools) is a school-based program that helps kids manage symptoms of trauma. In group and individual sessions with a clinician, kids learn skills to manage fear and anxiety caused by a disturbing experience.
https://standingabovethecrowd.com/james-donaldson-on-mental-health-cbits-trauma-treatment-for-kids-in-school/
USA TODAY NETWORK - Wisconsin
If you or someone you know is dealing with suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or text "Hopeline" to the National Crisis Text Line at 741-741.
Hundreds of runners pounded past the finish line last fall at the Nuttycombe Invitational. Seconds separated winners from losers on the University of Wisconsin-Madison course.
The athletes ran so fast it was almost easy to miss the green ribbons pinned to most of their jerseys. The UW-Madison women’s team had slipped the ribbons into each school’s welcome packet, along with a note.
“Dear student athletes,” the letter began. “In case you haven’t heard this in a while, you matter.”
The ribbons first appeared at the 2022 invitational, a few months after UW-Madison runner Sarah Shulze died by suicide at 21. A green ribbon is the symbol for mental health awareness.
One of Sarah’s former roommates, Maddie Mooney, came up with the idea as a way to reinforce the stakes.
“For all of the runners who come to this meet, like at least once per season, they get a little reminder that your life is bigger than this race,” she said. “It's just so easy to get wrapped up in your performance and thinking it's such a big deal.”
Sarah was a southern California girl whose mom imagines her working in public policy or finishing law school if she were alive today. Instead, her suicide shook the UW-Madison athletic community, serving as a tragic reminder of the stressors facing student-athletes and the consequences when those pressures feel insurmountable. She was one of at least five college athletes nationally who died by suicide in spring 2022.
Experts say there is never a single cause for suicide. In the months leading up to Sarah's death, her family and friends said she wrestled with a perfectionist personality, a breakup with her boyfriend, a schedule packed so tightly she stopped seeing her counselor and a coach who fostered a win-at-all-costs culture.
Sarah's death prompted the athletic department to pour more money into mental health resources. Her family channeled their pain into purpose, forming the Sarah Shulze Foundation in her honor. Her friends, too, became mental health advocates.
#James Donaldson notes:
Welcome to the “next chapter” of my life… being a voice and an advocate for #mentalhealthawarenessandsuicideprevention, especially pertaining to our younger generation of students and student-athletes.
Getting men to speak up and reach out for help and assistance is one of my passions. Us men need to not suffer in silence or drown our sorrows in alcohol, hang out at bars and strip joints, or get involved with drug use.
Having gone through a recent bout of #depression and #suicidalthoughts myself, I realize now, that I can make a huge difference in the lives of so many by sharing my story, and by sharing various resources I come across as I work in this space. #http://bit.ly/JamesMentalHealthArticle
Find out more about the work I do on my 501c3 non-profit foundation
website www.yourgiftoflife.org Order your copy of James Donaldson's latest book,
#CelebratingYourGiftofLife: From The Verge of Suicide to a Life of Purpose and Joy
www.celebratingyourgiftoflife.com
Link for 40 Habits Signup
bit.ly/40HabitsofMentalHealth
If you'd like to follow and receive my daily blog in to your inbox, just click on it with Follow It. Here's the link https://follow.it/james-donaldson-s-standing-above-the-crowd-s-blog-a-view-from-above-on-things-that-make-the-world-go-round?action=followPub
Despite the NCAA’s recent increased focus on mental health, collegiate athlete suicide rates are on the rise, according to a 2024 study. Although the rate remains lower than the general population, researchers said more prevention efforts are warranted. Suicide is now the second most common cause of death among collegiate athletes, second only to accidents.
The pressures on this population only continue to mount. The expansion of the Big Ten this year to include West Coast teams increases travel demands. Social media has opened up athletes to online abuse, especially as more states legalize sports betting. A new era where athletes can monetize their brand creates expectations from companies and collectives for athletes to live up to their endorsement deals.
“It’s not the same environment as 20 to 30 years ago, and it requires a different approach,” said Ellen Staurowsky, a professor of sports media at Ithaca College. But “there’s so few off-ramps in terms of (giving athletes) breathing room.”
Drawn to UW-Madison for its Big Ten sports culture, Sarah dreamed of racing with teammates to beat Michigan and Ohio State.
The reality was far less rah-rah. Sarah more often felt in competition with her teammates than other schools, said her mom, Brigitte Shulze.
During the cross-country season, for example, only seven runners on the 25-person team traveled to meets. Sarah's times put her on the bubble, sometimes good enough and other times falling short.
“It’s a hard spot to be in,” said Mooney, a former roommate. “It puts a lot of pressure on every race that you can’t have a bad day or mess up.”
Sarah masked the pressure well. Teammates described her as goofy, always the first to crack a joke or fill an awkward silence.
Sarah started running in an elementary school club. She giggled at the back with friends in her first race. They eventually dropped out. She kept going, and started winning.
“She put a lot of expectations on herself,” Brigitte said. “That’s kind of how she fell into running.”
The realities of college and Division I running shocked Sarah almost immediately.
But mental health was rarely, if ever, discussed by the coach, said five of Sarah’s former teammates. The UW athletic department had sports psychologists on staff, but they said the wait to see them was often a month or more. The sessions tended to focus on improving athletic performance.
The psychologists’ central location within the athletic building also created privacy concerns. Mooney was mortified when another student-athlete saw her walk out of a session in tears. Teammate Cailyn Biegalski said she overheard a counseling session while waiting for her own appointment.
UW Athletics said it had no data on average appointment wait time in 2021-22. Online appointments and off-site community providers paid for by the athletic department are available for athletes concerned about privacy.
The department during this time had the equivalent of two full-time in-house mental health providers, as well as contracts with nine community providers, for about 700 athletes. This staffing level was considered the "norm" for that time, UW Athletics mental health director David Lacocque said. It wasn't until 2016 the NCAA even recommended athletic departments hire counselors internally. The previous model referred athletes to student health centers or contracted providers.
Some athletes may not understand sports psychologists can address all mental health needs, not just performance-related concerns.
"We need to make sure student-athletes are fully educated about what (our) services are," Lacocque said in an interview. "There's a never-ending effort to do that."
In an NCAA survey of more than 23,000 student-athletes in 2022-23, nearly 70% reported knowing where to go on campus for mental health problems but only about half said they would feel comfortable doing so.
Sarah met with a sports psychologist a few times, Brigitte said, but later switched to one of UW's contracted community providers.
Scheduling time for therapy can be tough for student-athletes, and even more so for runners with no offseason.
Teammate Lexi Westley scheduled her sleep, social life, classes and counseling around training.
“There were times when I would text my therapist to say ‘I can’t this week — can we push it off?’” she said.
Sarah's coaching expectations were dashed from the start. The coach who recruited her to UW-Madison left just days before practice began Sarah's freshman year. Taking her place was Mackenzie Wartenberger. Teammates described her as an “intense” and “toxic” coach who pitted runners against each other.
Westley said she never had panic attacks until she joined the team. She dreaded one-on-one meetings with Wartenberger and, years later, is still triggered by certain words and phrases the coach said to her.
Westley thought she was the only one. Then another teammate spoke up. That led others, including Sarah, to share their own stories about Wartenberger.
The coach fostered an “unhealthy team environment that went unchecked for way too long by the university,” Brigitte said.
COVID-19 compounded the stress. Wartenberger discouraged runners from socializing outside the team and traveling home, Brigitte said. The threat of the season ending before it even began hung over the team throughout fall 2020.
One bright spot during this time: Online classes freed up some time in Sarah’s schedule, allowing the political science major to intern in the office of state Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee. It became the highlight of her day.
But with meets scheduled to return in early 2021, Wartenberger told Sarah to drop the internship, her teammates said.
“Her life was supposed to be running,” Brigitte said. “This one thing she had to give up — it was the start of her thinking ‘this is too much.’”
The NCAA survey found mental health problems on the decline compared to the height of COVID-19 but still at relatively high levels, especially among female athletes. The survey also reported a drop in the percentage of female athletes who felt their coaches cared about their well-being, from 72% in 2015 to 59% in 2023.https://www.usatodaynetworkservice.com/tangstatic/html/pmjs/sf-q1a2z330306dc3.min.html
Westley said the athletic department interviewed her as part of an investigation into Wartenberger.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's public records request for the investigation yielded no paperwork detailing athletes' complaints, interviews or findings. In a December 2021 letter, the athletic department told Wartenberger her responsibilities, including contact with student-athletes, would be transferred to someone else, without explaining why.
Wartenberger announced on social media in January 2022 she was stepping away from coaching to focus on her family. Reached by phone this year, she declined to answer questions.
UW-Madison also declined to answer questions about Wartenberger.
Several stressors loomed over Sarah in spring 2022. Wartenberger's departure left the team in a state of chaos, her teammates said. Sarah was on the heels of a breakup. She was also frustrated by an unexplained, last-minute decision from the men's coach, who had temporarily taken over the team, to pull her from a travel meet.
It’s no big deal, Brigitte told her on April 6. She suggested Sarah talk with her therapist. That’s when she learned Sarah had stopped seeing the counselor a few months earlier. Sarah told her she didn’t have time, and she felt less stressed after Wartenberger left.
Maybe it’s time to start seeing the therapist again, Brigitte suggested.
Sarah said she had emailed that day for an appointment and learned the next availability was weeks away.
Mooney, Victoria Heiligenthal and another teammate found Sarah unresponsive later that day. They called an ambulance.
The Shulzes arrived at UW Hospital the next morning but Sarah was already on life support. She died April 13.
UW-Madison declined to answer questions about Sarah's case, citing medical and student privacy laws. Speaking generally, officials said athletes can receive mental health support at any time but the timeliness of the response depends on whether the need is identified as "routine" or "urgent."
The last time Brigitte saw Sarah alive was over spring break. The two talked about Katie Meyer, a Stanford soccer player who grew up 15 minutes away from the Shulzes and had just died by suicide.
Sarah gave no indication she was having similar thoughts, Brigitte said. She had just gotten into a summer study abroad program and started to imagine life after running.
“It was probably the happiest we’d seen her in a long time,” Brigitte said. "To go from that, to six weeks later she's no longer with us, it's so jarring. And I think that's what's so shocking about suicide is just how fast it can happen. This perfect storm of events can trigger this avalanche of emotions that they feel like they can't escape."
Sarah's death shocked her team, too. Biegalski thought back to April 4 when the team talked about dresses they planned to wear at an upcoming athletic banquet. Sarah's was Badger red.
The traumatized team kept training. They ran past the hospital where Sarah was still on life support. They sprinted up hills, reminding them of Sarah's hatred for hills.
https://standingabovethecrowd.com/james-donaldson-on-mental-health-the-pressure-on-student-athletes-keeps-mounting-for-one-uw-madison-runner-it-was-too-much/
