Athlete Mental Health & Eating Disorders - a news & discussion thread

[On My Own]

I jumped the first quadruple when I weighed 25-26 kg. I remember that I read some article then, and it was written there: girls can jump quads only in weight up to 25 kg. I read this, and when I had 26 kg, I thought: what, now I can’t do a quadruple?

- Of course not. But I set myself a goal: six months before the Olympics, be patient, control yourself. My maximum troubles about food are the Olympic season, when I weighed myself a hundred times a day, I watched every gram. But I have no regrets - the result was. I don’t know if he would have been if I didn’t treat training so responsibly, didn’t follow my diet so much. Such an adult attitude, at the Olympics itself, too.

 

[Evilynn]

In our group, they no longer monitor nutrition, but weight

This seems absolutely nuts. So there'll be doctors for everything except nutrition??

 

[MacMadame]

This seems absolutely nuts. So there'll be doctors for everything except nutrition??

That's not what was said. It's still nuts to monitor weight. But she didn't say there were no nutrition experts, just that the coaches won't be monitoring what is put in the skater's mouths every day.

 

[SkateGuard]

A really informative listen...

Body Image, Eating Disorders and Sport (episode 2 of the new Sport Nova Scotia podcast):

Podcasts - Sport Nova Scotia

About this Podcast The importance of listening to the athlete’s voice cannot be understated. The Sport Nova Scotia Podcast will host athletes and subject matter experts who will cover everything from body image and over exercising to eating disorders, athlete-coach relationships, psychological...

sportnovascotia.ca

 

[Sylvia]

Canadian pair skater Natasha Purich posted this yesterday (with 5 photos) and Emma Bulawka and Maddie Edwards replied with supportive comments: https://www.instagram.com/p/CoLjIR9PFtV/

It's national women in sports day this week along with the fact it's national eating disorder awareness canada. Unfortunately high level athletics and eating disorders quite frequently go hand in hand. Many people don't realize a lot of the time people who are struggling feel ashamed, alone and terrified. I am thankful over the last couple years this subject has become less taboo and people are openly sharing there stories. I struggled with a severe eating disorder for years and every time I would start heading down a good path I would hear one comment about another person or be an a circumstance where I'd hear people body shaming me or someone else and I would instantly feel like my efforts were a lost cause. I felt worthless and exhausted. Life gave me a pause in the last little bit and brought to a place where I am surrounded by positive amazing female athletes. I wish I could have told the young girl in the last 3 photos to ignore the thoughts of others and how much more fulfilling life is when you aren't constantly depleated. Recovery is hard,uncomfortable and exhausting but it is 100% worth it.

Dont be scared to reach out for help if your struggling.

#eatingdisorderawareness #nedic #mentalhealth #girlsinsport

 

[On My Own]

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

ETA: Oh it got deleted seconds after I posted. here's what it was: https://twitter.com/vmstagemom/status/1625556802392756225

 

[SkateFanBerlin]

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

ETA: Oh it got deleted seconds after I posted. here's what it was: https://twitter.com/vmstagemom/status/1625556802392756225

Post was innocuous. Naughty snack is not the same thing as disorder.

 

[tony]

Post was innocuous. Naughty snack is not the same thing as disorder.

I don’t necessarily agree here and kinda cringed myself when I saw it on Instagram. Do you really think joking about not having food is the best idea for the pre-teens/teens that are skaters and following the account?

There are a few things the ISU (or one person) has either posted or commented lately that are their entire online presence (the website, the social media posts, the content they come up with) has needed an overhaul for a long time.

 

[MacMadame]

Post was innocuous. Naughty snack is not the same thing as disorder.

Actually, there is no such thing as a "naughty" snack. Food is food. Whether a particular food makes sense to eat depends on the entire context of your diet and also your history with food.

 

[On My Own]

Naughty snack does exist, of course, but not in the context of food.

 

[SkateFanBerlin]

I don’t necessarily agree here and kinda cringed myself when I saw it on Instagram. Do you really think joking about not having food is the best idea for the pre-teens/teens that are skaters and following the account?

There are a few things the ISU (or one person) has either posted or commented lately that are their entire online presence (the website, the social media posts, the content they come up with) has needed an overhaul for a long time.

During competitions there are lots of cracks here - fans saying they need a drink. I've been in AA for 17 years. If I decide to drink it's on me, not the posters on a skating blog. Not all drinking is addictive. There is the occasional, the more than my normal, problematic and addictive. Surely food is similar. If my friend sets out to lose 10 before her wedding is that dysfunctional?

 

[tony]

During competitions there are lots of cracks here - fans saying they need a drink. I've been in AA for 17 years. If I decide to drink it's on me, not the posters on a skating blog. Not all drinking is addictive. There is the occasional, the more than my normal, problematic and addictive. Surely food is similar. If my friend sets out to lose 10 before her wedding is that dysfunctional?

And you are not the same as everyone else. This is the story of FSU (and the world in general) all too often- people just don't get it that the way you deal with things will not be the same way the next person does.

ETA- before you went to AA you obviously sensed you had a problem, no? So would you like little posts such as that ISU one to trigger people into potential problems as well?

 

[On My Own]

During competitions there are lots of cracks here - fans saying they need a drink. I've been in AA for 17 years. If I decide to drink it's on me, not the posters on a skating blog. Not all drinking is addictive. There is the occasional, the more than my normal, problematic and addictive. Surely food is similar. If my friend sets out to lose 10 before her wedding is that dysfunctional?

The posters aren't posting it to their 322k followers... Nor do they have responsibility as an organization to athletes.

I don't get what the point of the post was in the first place. Surely they can come up with something more professional, instead of this tiktok crap. Figure skating is supposedly a sport. BS like that isn't attracting sports fans.

 

[overedge]

Post was innocuous. Naughty snack is not the same thing as disorder.

Classifying food choices as "a snack you know you shouldn't have" is the type of reasoning that can lead to eating disorders.

The ISU is the federation governing a sport where eating disorders are common. A post like this is completely inappropriate.

 

[SkateFanBerlin]

And you are not the same as everyone else. This is the story of FSU (and the world in general) all too often- people just don't get it that the way you deal with things will not be the same way the next person does.

ETA- before you went to AA you obviously sensed you had a problem, no? So would you like little posts such as that ISU one to trigger people into potential problems as well?

My brother triggers my anger. If i act on a trigger its 's on me. AA teaches to take responsibility for your actions. Blaming others is how I got into the mess.

 

[tony]

My brother triggers my anger. If i act on a trigger its 's on me. AA teaches to take responsibility for your actions. Blaming others is how I got into the mess.

I really don't know what else to say, because it's clearly going to continue to be 'this is how it was for me so it shall be the same for everyone else'. The ISU is the sports governing body, not some troll account that someone may just stumble upon. Young skaters are certainly following the ISU-- plenty of them compete in the Junior Grand Prix and junior international events throughout the season.

You clearly weren't perfect as a teenager or you wouldn't have needed to go to AA later in life. These teens don't need cues about what they should or shouldn't eat, or questioning if they should have a snack or a meal in general. You're enough of a skating fan that frankly it's moronic that I'm spelling it out to you that this is already a known problem in the sport.

 

[SkateFanBerlin]

I really don't know what else to say, because it's clearly going to continue to be 'this is how it was for me so it shall be the same for everyone else'. The ISU is the sports governing body, not some troll account that someone may just stumble upon. Young skaters are certainly following the ISU-- plenty of them compete in the Junior Grand Prix and junior international events throughout the season.

You clearly weren't perfect as a teenager or you wouldn't have needed to go to AA later in life. These teens don't need cues about what they should or shouldn't eat, or questioning if they should have a snack or a meal in general. You're enough of a skating fan that frankly it's moronic that I'm spelling it out to you that this is already a known problem in the sport.

So we're at name calling? Tony, let's call it a day. Good night.

 

[tony]

So we're at name calling? Tony, let's call it a day. Good night.

Yes, because saying it's moronic that I have to dumb these things down is clearly name-calling. Good night.

 

[MacMadame]

My brother triggers my anger. If i act on a trigger its 's on me. AA teaches to take responsibility for your actions. Blaming others is how I got into the mess.

If something the ISU says triggers a minor into an eating disorder, that person could die. I think they have an obligation to their skaters, especially the minors, to avoid doing things that are known to trigger eating disorders. They should be leading by example.

If my friend sets out to lose 10 before her wedding is that dysfunctional?

It is if she decides to do this 6 weeks before her wedding. (And brides have done that so I didn't just make up that scenario.)

 

[Rukia]

I would say I'm surprised people can't tell the difference between individuals posting nonsense as themselves and the governing body of a sport posting potentially dangerous and triggering comments, but honestly I'm not.

 

[B.Cooper]

on a more positive note....

Busy and exciting week for Rachael Flatt....

Flatt....who is finishing up at UNC/Chapel Hill, announced her match for her internship at Duke Medicine yesterday on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/RachaelFlatt/status/1626654180118089728

"Guess I'll be trading in my Carolina blue for a new shade of blue .....
@DukePsychiatry for my clinical psych internship! One step closer to being Dr. Flatt!"




Flatt also participated on a distinguished panel, "Mental Health Considerations for Athletics" for The US Council for Athletes Health earlier this week, including Candice Williams, PhD, LMHC, the Director of Mind, Health and Wellness for the Boston Celtics and Abigail Eiler, LMSW, MSW, QMHP where she is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan School of Social Work.

https://twitter.com/4athleteshealth/status/1626267374042116097

 

[canbelto]

Sort of related: Katia Gordeeva has gone back to school to study nutrition bc she said she had unhealthy relationships with food while skating.

 

[MacMadame]

Interesting article from the Guardian. It focuses on the UK and some commonwealth countries.

Culture crises across sports are a warning siren: we cannot keep ignoring the lessons | Cath Bishop

Trust in high-performance sport systems is at an all-time low, it is long overdue that we chart a healthier path for elite athletes

www.theguardian.com

 

[Orm Irian]

I just came across this article in the Guardian, about US runner Lauren Fleshman - while it doesn't discuss figure skating, a lot of the territory it covers is very relevant to the ongoing discussion in this thread. One quote from Fleshman that really leaped out at me in the context of the age change for competing in Seniors:

“We make the assumptions that the best female athletes should mimic what the men are doing and mimic how the men look ... So we pressure them to erase the parts of their bodies that are distinctly female. The easiest and fastest way to do that is through weight loss – eliminate your curves and eliminate as much body fat as possible. We now know how harmful that is to the female body and we also know how silly that is for a [teenage] girl. Even a 28-year-old Olympian. The tools we have used to measure male bodies are just not applicable to females. They are damaging. You start pinching the skin of a 15-year-old girl and that is the last thing a girl needs when her body is going through these changes. She is becoming. She has not arrived. She needs the space to become.”

Lauren Fleshman: âThere is a betrayal of womenâs bodies in the sports systemâ

The former US 5000m champion believes that elite sports are guilty of erasing women’s bodies, leading to unnecessary problems for competitors

www.theguardian.com

 

[Vagabond]

Kaitlin Hawayek posted this vid on IG. (WTF? That fan should be banned.)

Kaitlin Hawayek, OLY on Instagram: "Thank you for taking the time to watch. Please share if you feel like continuing to help spread awareness 🤍"

10K likes, 863 comments - kait_hawayekOctober 25, 2022 on : "Thank you for taking the time to watch. Please share if you feel like continuing to help spread awareness 🤍"

www.instagram.com

We now know that Hawayek was (and still is) suffering from post-concussive problems and depression when she posted this. A good example of why it is inappropriate to tell someone to lose weight.

 

[Sylvia]

Anna Kellar interviewed Rachael Flatt on her latest episode of The Future of Figure Skating podcast (a transcript is available):
https://pnc.st/s/futureoffigureskating/a47ab86f/rachael-flatt

TW: Eating Disorders. Today's guest is Rachael Flatt. Rachael was the 2008 World Junior Champion, and the 2010 US National Champion and placed 7th in the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver. After retiring from competitive skating in 2014, she completed her degree from Stanford University and has gone on to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, with a focus on eating disorders and mental health in athletes. As an athlete member of the US Figure Skating board of directors, and as part of the US Olympic and Paralympic Task Force on Mental Health, Rachael has brought both her personal and professional expertise to making elite sport a healthier environment. This was a great conversation drawing connections between health and inclusion!

 

[Sylvia]

Join Prof. Jenny Conviser, Northwestern Univ. and Olympian and World Medalist Ashley Wagner: Athlete Mental Health / Athlete Mental Performance

Description
Sports and physical activity have been shown to be powerful tools for promoting positive mental health. However, without proper attention and support for athlete mental health, the demands and pressures of high performance can lead to negative mental health outcomes such as anxiety, depression, and burnout. It is therefore essential to prioritize mental health within sports environments, to ensure the physical and emotional safety of athletes, to help athletes manage stress, to foster positive relationships between coaches and athletes, and to create a culture of openness and understanding around mental health. Join us for a discussion about athlete mental health, mental performance, and the importance of integrating mental training into your seasonal plan. Led by Peter Zapalo.

Time: Monday, April 10, 2023 08:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Link to register for free (athletes, parents and coaches are welcome): https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0vdumuqjsvHNOKc5TWer4nb4uy27X5k9yz

 

[B.Cooper]

Registration is now open for the 2023 Female Athlete Conference in Boston, June 13-16.

2023 Conference — The Female Athlete Conference

www.femaleathleteconference.com

The Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance is the primary sponsor (Founding partners include The Salk Institute in San Diego, UC San Diego, Stanford University, Boston's Children's Hospital, the University of Kansas and the University of Oregon).

From the announcement:

The Female Athlete Conference is a 501(c)(3), striving to close the disparity in research and treatment of female athletes. The Conference promotes understanding of female athletes' unique and understudied physiology and lived experience, as well as clinical best practices and interdisciplinary calls-to-action. The only event of its kind, the Conference increases collaboration between clinicians and athlete support personnel and advances research in the burgeoning field of female athlete medicine and science. Speakers and attendees alike look forward to this biennial convening to collectively empower female athletes by improving their understanding and connections within this international community.​

The content of this conference is designed for physicians, physician assistants, nurses, nurse practitioners, sports medicine specialists, physical therapists, athletic trainers, psychologists, mental health professionals, dietitians, coaches, researchers, female athletes and their families, and others involved with the evaluation and management of female athletes.​

The in person portion of the conference schedule includes a significant number of presentations on the mental health side of sport:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5dd70115adeb0b3cce38c3dd/t/642348ac28b49048b3992596/1680033965088/2023+Schedule+%281%29.pdf

A few of the topics presented (not only mental health but eating disorders, recovery modalities/mental health components; transition into retirement; relationships between coaches and athletes; body image, compulsive exercise...list is pretty comprehensive):

How the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance is Advancing Female Athlete Health and Performance
Femina Scientia: History, Hormones, and Female Athletes
Concussion Updates for Female Athletes
Mental Health in Sport Panel
Psychological Resilience and Mental Skills Training, Navigating the Mental Side of Recovery
A Multidisciplinary Approach to Treating Hip Injuries in the Female Athlete
Evaluation of the Relationship Between Body Composition, Nutrition and Menopause Symptoms Across the Menopause Transition
Navigating Relationships and Limiting the Impact of Countertransference When Working with Female Athletes
Chronic Pain in Female Athletes: The Need for Integrated Treatment and Team-Based Approaches
Evaluating the Efficacy of the Sports Mental Health Assessment Tool and the Coach Self-Efficacy Body Image Scale in High Level Athletes
Safe Guarding in Sport
Developing a Sports Science Research Agenda and Translational Practice Informed by USOPC-Affiliated Female Athletes
From Chaos to Cosmos: Clinical Complexities and Considerations in the Treatment of Athletes with Eating Disorders
Preventing Physical Maltreatment, Sexual, & Emotional Abuse in Female Athletes Around the World
Improving Body Image and Preventing Eating Disorders in Female Athletes
Managing Bone Stress Injuries and Treating Compulsive Exercise
USOPC, AIS, EIS- International Collaborative Approach to Elite Female Athlete Education and Care
Advancing Knowledge of Female Athlete Health and Applying Sports Science to the Treatment of Female Athletes
Exploring Retired Elite Female Athletes’ Health and Navigating the Transition Out of Sport

Hopefully some of the federations will be sending attendees this year!
So many great panelists!

 

[Sylvia]

Polina Edmunds' latest podcast episode (April 4, 2023):

Bleav in Figure Skating: Competing on Your Period? Menstrual Cycles, Women’s Hormones, and Birth Control Effects on Female Athletes With Dr. Jolene Brighten

bleav.com

I sit down with board certified naturopathic endocrinologist Dr. Jolene Brighten to get more informed on an extremely important topic for female athletes: the menstrual cycle + women’s hormones, how to work with them naturally for higher performance, and how going on birth control to “control” for your period may not be the best option for female athletes.

-women’s hormones and how they affect the body

-the four stages of the menstrual cycle

-why ovulation is essential to the female body

-how food plays a role in balancing hormones

-understanding exercise with the phases of your menstrual cycle and building strength

-the possible benefits for female athletes tracking their energy throughout their cycle to identify the highs and lows for training/performance

-competing on your period: how stress/adrenaline can be affected

-concussions: worsened symptoms + longer recovery time if you sustain a head injury during specific phases of your menstrual cycle

-the key differences in women’s hormones when on birth control vs. off birth control

-how birth control affects brain development

-how birth control can affect body composition and hinder muscle growth/strength building

-how birth control can throw a wrench in how you handle stress/adrenaline in competition

-common physiological and behavioral side effects of birth control

 

[B.Cooper]

Sadly, poorly thought out comments on eating disorders, body shape/image etc., continue by fans. Recent IG post by Selmasiri Bella Larsen at her JGP event

Selmasiri Bella Larsen on Instagram: "Today i skated my first ever program at a JGP. That should be enough to make me extremely happy and proud. However, i had to read some really inacceptable comments (among other things about my body), and that was

selmasiri_bellaSeptember 7, 2023 on : "Today i skated my first ever program at a JGP. That should be enough to make me extremely happy and proud. However, i had to read some re..."

www.instagram.com

@Sylvia ....Added the link here bc not everyone has access to the competition threads. ;-)


So glad she has a strong mental health component to her training to comment openly on this.

Recently saw that Ashley Wagner (her IG feed) finished her undergrad degree at Northeastern in psychology.

Rachael Flatt is now at Duke Medicine, in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences department doing her internship at Duke University School of Medicine.

Rachael Flatt, MA | Duke Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences

Undergraduate School Stanford University

psychiatry.duke.edu