Kevin Lawrence, For the York Daily Record
Kevin Lawrence is the head baseball coach at Red Lion High School, a YAIAA basketball official and a social studies teacher at Susquehannock High School. He graduated from Delone Catholic High School in 1993. These are his words:
I am a suicide survivor.
I do not meet the definition for being a suicide survivor. But make no mistake, I am surviving my own #suicidalthoughts. By the grace of God, I have never attempted to take my own life. But I have considered it, pondered it and planned it in my own mind. It is called #suicidalideation and it is only one on a lengthy list of ways that our nation’s growing mental health crisis is manifesting itself.
There are many other ways but, as former Washington State quarterback #TylerHilinski’s own suicide tragically proved again, it is the most tragic and devastating.
I am scared. This is a terrifying revelation to make. I expect people to snicker and judge, laugh and mock. But if even one person reconsiders their opinion on mental health, reevaluates what they think a person with depression “looks like,” or better yet, makes the intentional decision to be more empathetic to another human being, athlete or not, the courage it took for me to publish these paragraphs is worth it.
#JamesDonaldsononMentalHealth –
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
‘We are being silent when we should be shouting’
Red Lion head coach Kevin Lawrence yells out to a batter. The Red Lion Lions beat the Dallastown Wildcats, 4-1, during the District III Class 6A semifinals at Spring Grove on Tuesday, May 29, 2018
According to the #NationalAllianceonMentalIllness (NAMI), suicide is the second leading cause of death among Americans ages 10-34. Not impaired driving. Not undiagnosed heart disorders. Not drug overdoses. Suicide. Besides the malignancy of suicide, there are other mental illness that, left untreated, lead directly to death.
Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of all #mentalillnesses. While certainly not isolated to student-athletes, negative body image and eating disorders are no less prevalent among athletes. Body image challenges plague not only female athletes but, as a man for whom the struggle is real, males as well. The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) reports that 1 in 3 people who are battling an eating disorder is #male.
#NAMI’s research shows that more than one in five American teenagers will experience a serious mental illness before their frontal lobes fully develop in their mid-20s. The #AmericanFoundationforSuicidePrevention reports that suicides among those ages 15-24 — the exact age demographic of high school and college student-athletes — has increased steadily since 2000. Each year, more high school and college aged students are taking their own lives.
But when our young people look around and try to interpret the most complex world teenagers have ever faced, they see groups discouraging them from drinking and driving, clinics providing free heart screenings and speakers cautioning the dangers of drug use. At the very same time, our teenage student-athletes are explicitly being given the wrong message about mental health.
We are telling our student-athletes, “you’re resilient, persevere, work through, be mentally tough.” Those messages are great ones for our student-athletes to hear within the lines of their competitive arenas; outside of those boundaries, they are absolutely the wrong messages. We are giving them catch phrases instead of effective strategies. We are failing. We are being silent when we should be shouting. We are ignoring when we must be engaging.
We are not intentionally making the distinction between what is an appropriate mental approach on the field or court and what is mentally healthy outside the locker room doors.
And no place is this silence more deafening than in America’s high school and college locker rooms. Study upon study shows that athletes are significantly less likely than non-athletes to report when they are having problems and to seek the help they need to address those challenges.
The reasons for this disparity are less obvious than the statistical differences themselves. The reasons matter less than the reality. We have invented this perfect image of the American student-athlete. They have it all —great families, good friends, athletic success, academic accomplishment and positive relationships. We are sending a message to young athletes as early as they can recognize it that they have it all and that they need to do it all.
They don’t. They can’t. It is time that we wake up, speak up and acknowledge that our locker rooms are plagued by the same malevolence found in every other corner and crevice of our society.
#Student-athletes aren’t 10-feet tall and bulletproof
Announcer Kevin Lawrence hikes the ball to his son, 6-year-old Connor Lawrence before the football game at Susquehannock High School Friday, August 31, 2012
We need to banish the notion that our student-athletes are ‘10 feet tall and bulletproof.’ We need to destigmatize #mentalillness. And we absolutely need to create a structure to ensure that competitive athletics teaches all of the right life lessons and supports all of its participants, especially those who need the most support.
American teenagers are facing an existential crisis. And no group is being misfed bad information and taught to misinterpret their emotions more than young athletes.
Our student-athletes will experience failures and successes. Both are valuable. But as our young athletes learn to make sense of those experiences we need to make sure that we as adults, coaches, fans and parents are aware of their challenges, empathetic to their feelings and sensitive to their needs.
We need to stop acting as though high school and college student-athletes are leading some charmed life simply by virtue of their physical prowess. We need to quit acting as though the result of a football game on Friday night or Saturday afternoon is a harbinger of the life path of any of the student-athletes who played in it. We need to speak up. This is my attempt to open the conversation.
We don’t make players compete with torn ACLs. But we do make them play through shredded emotions. We don’t expect players with broken collarbones to play. But we expect teenagers with broken spirits to play, and play well. We are providing them with the equipment their sport requires, helmets, sticks and pads, but we aren’t providing them with the tools their lives necessitate.
As quick as we are to buy new equipment, we must be equally committed to teaching our student-athletes coping mechanisms, strategies to build intrapersonal intelligence and instilling in them the courage to speak out.
Celebrating #athletes for who they are
Sarah Pennington has an impulse-control disorder called trichotillomania, a #mentaldisorder involving recurrent, irresistible urges to pull out hair Paul Kuehnel, pkuehnel@ydr.com
I am trying to set the example. I am speaking out. I have multiple diagnoses. I have major #depressive disorder, #anxiety, panic disorder, ADHD and elements of OCD. I coach. I officiate. I struggle. And usually I can cope. But that ability — to cope — is one that I have learned painfully and methodically over the past 21 years.
Not enough of our #student-athletes are learning the same skills. We have fed them a societal farce that they have the perfect life and we expect them to meet our expectations. It is time we meet theirs.
This fall I’m back in the press box at Susquehannock announcing the Warrior football games. This winter I’ll be back on the basketball court and next spring I’ll be back in Red Lion’s baseball dugout coaching. During each season, I’ll watch the successes and failures of our local student-athletes.
Through it all, I hope that you will join me in celebrating the young #men and #women who compete, not for what they accomplish or what they do, but rather for who they are. We all need to join together to support the people beneath the uniforms and not just celebrate the championships they win and the milestones they surpass. We need to applaud their end rushes and their empathy, their crossovers and their coping skills, their headers and their heartaches.
We are facing a #mentalhealth crisis in America. It is being exacerbated by our collective silence. I’m speaking up. Please join me.
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of #suicide, reach out to the #NationalSuicidePreventionLifeline 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
To continue the conversation about how we can destigmatize #mentalillness in the #sports community, to share your own thoughts and experiences, or to invite Kevin to speak to your group, please email him at NOT10feettallandbulletproof@gmail.com.
James Donaldson is a Washington State University graduate (’79). After an outstanding basketball career with WSU, he went on to play professional basketball in the NBA with the Seattle Supersonics, San Diego/L.A. Clippers, Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks, and Utah Jazz. He also played for several teams in the European Leagues in Spain, Italy, and Greece, and he toured with The Harlem Globetrotters to wrap up his career. James was an NBA All-Star in 1988 while playing center for the Dallas Mavericks. In 2006, James was inducted into the Pac-10 Sports Hall of Fame and also the Washington State University Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2010, James was elected as a board member for the NBA Retired Players Association.
James frequently conducts speaking engagements (motivational, inspirational, educational) for organizations, schools, and youth groups.
In 2010, James was the recipient of the NBA Legends of Basketball ABC Award, awarded for outstanding contributions in Athletics–Business–Community.
He believes in being a role model for success and professionalism to the scores of young people to whom he devotes so much of his time. He currently serves on several boards and committees and is a member of many organizations.
James believes in developing relationships that create a “Win-Win” environment for everyone involved, and in being the best he can be!
For more information about James Donaldson or to request he speak at your event, contact him at:
www.StandingAboveTheCrowd.com
JamesD@StandingAboveTheCrowd.com
1-800-745-3161 (voicemail & fax)
James Donaldson is the author of “Standing Above The Crowd” and “Celebrating Your Gift of Life” and founder of the Your Gift of Life Foundation which focuses on mental health awareness and suicide prevention, especially pertaining to our school aged children and men.
If you’re interested in having James come and speak to your group of young adults, business entrepreneurs, aspiring political and community leaders, and athletic teams, please contact him at jamesd@yourgiftoflife.org and or leave a personal message for him at 1-800-745-3161. Keep up with him and read about how he is reaching out and making a difference in the lives of so many around the world at www.yourgiftoflife.org
