As a student-athlete, men's basketball redshirt senior Damarion Geter has battled injuries, including a shoulder surgery that forced him to redshirt in his third year and last year's season-ending broken foot after three games.
Even though athletes are students, they are mostly associated with their sport, both by others and by themselves.
“We all know we’re student-athletes, but most people identify with athlete part. Having that taken away makes you challenge yourself and figure out who you are as a person again,” said Geter.
As the issue of mental health and student-athletes began to dominate conversations in the NCAA nationwide, the university has brought Midlothian sports psychologist Mike Cerreto in as a consultant, who began working with Longwood student-athletes in August. Cerreto - who's main focus is helping the student-athletes handle injuries - said Geter wasn't alone. Cerreto explained battling with injuries also takes away from how student-athletes see themselves.
“Their identity is centered around their sport. Once that is put on hold, or marginalized, it makes them see the gaps in their lives. They can think without sports, teammates and the schedule they always had, who are they,” asked Cerreto. “It can affect them emotionally, but it can also have the athlete feel responsible to recovery to other people, rather than themselves. That is one of the things that contributes to an athlete having higher levels of anxiety, and often some depression.”
Assistant Athletics Director of Sports Performance Rick Canter echoed the sports psychologist and said, “A lot of the time, social identity is tied to their sports."
Canter's department focuses on sports performance and leadership, but they also serve in a "role of stress manager."
"When we see an athlete, there is physical stress from practices and lifts. There's also mental stress from the overload of academic school work," said Canter.
While spending nearly two years away from the court, Geter said he struggled to keep himself on top of school work due to his frustrations with the situation.
"Once you get hurt, little things become big things because you aren’t able to blow off your steam like you can when you’re playing so everything gets amplified,” he said.
Cerreto added student-athletes also feel pressure because they can feel their college career being taken from them.
“When athletes are injured, the primary thing driving concern is one big, huge clock in their head. It's ticking, and they know they only have a certain amount of time within a season to get into condition to play," he said.
He added, “That ticking clock adds a tremendous amount of anxiety and concern for them."
He stated different variables can also affect how athletes handle injuries: the severity of the injury, timing of the injury and the time of recovery.
Timing of the injury became a motivating factor for softball senior Kelsey Sweeney. The starting first baseman broke her ankle just as her team embarked on their third consecutive Big South championship, forcing her into rehab and doctor's appointments, instead of playing in the tournament on her home field for the first time.
“It hurt because I went from starting every game to being hurt and not being able to play. It really hurt not being able to help my team,” she said.
Cerreto said he tries to help student-athletes like Geter and Sweeney by putting their injury into perspective and "realize they have a lot more time to come back."
“I first have to help them put into perspective the real timing of what they’re looking at. I help them examine the best case and worst case scenario for rehabilitation,” he said.
At times when athletes are hurt mid-season, they may attempt to rush back. Cerreto said he tries to make his clients recognize the bigger picture.
“The other thing I have them do is look at their life in a broader way," said Cerreto. "In other words, have them doing things that feed them as a person because athletes often wrestle with feeling isolated, alone, misunderstood and believe they’re letting people down."
Geter and Sweeney stated their own path to overcoming the mental side effects of their physical injuries.
Sweeney said, "The biggest thing for me is knowing that I’m doing it now to be able to play my senior year."
“The first step is having that support system of close friends and family," Geter added. "Even if your family is far away (like his in Dayton, Ohio), you have one or two teammates you’re really close to, and you can have real talks with.”
