There has recently been an increasing number of athletes bravely coming forward to share their stories about the psychological distress and associated mental health challenges they experienced during their athletic careers (e.g., Michael Phelps, Gracie Gold, and Demar Derozan). Athletes are not immune to experiencing psychological distress and rates of mental illness among athletes are comparable to their non-athlete peers (Rice et al., 2016). Research has long suggested that athletes participating in sport, particularly at competitive and elite levels, may be at-risk for experiencing psychological distress and associated mental disturbance because of the various sport-specific stressors they may face, such as sustaining athletic injury, conflict with teammates, and pressures to achieve athletic success (Sudano, Miles, & Collins, 2017), as well as more personal life stressors, such as challenges with their sexuality (Kroshus & Davoren, 2016). In response to these stressors, athletes may suffer from impaired mental health including anxiety, depression, disordered eating, suicidal ideation, and alcohol or substance dependency (Rice et al., 2016). For help managing this distress, athletes may turn to coaches for support. Coaches are recognized leaders within sport whose attitudes and expressed opinions towards psychological distress and mental health can greatly influence the likelihood of athletes coming forward and seeking help (Moreland, Coxe, & Yang, 2018). Further, both coaches (Mazzer & Rickwood, 2015) and parents (Brown, Deane, Vella, & Liddle, 2017) alike have expressed that coaches should assume a role in supporting the wellbeing of athletes because of the frequency with which coaches and athletes interact. As such, it is important that coaches be equipped with the knowledge, skills and resources necessary to support the psychological wellbeing of their athletes. This includes coaches being aware of the limitations to their role and knowing to connect athletes with professional resources when instances of psychological distress require such intervention (e.g., suicidal ideation, severe mental illness, and substance dependency).
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