“I truly believe my daughter would be alive had I had…even the smallest bit of information.”
My heart is heavy after reading this.
The story could have and should have been different. Please do two things after reading this.
1) Keep the Catlin and Soutter families in your prayers.
2) Continue, through a myriad of different ways, to remind your teammates/players/children that they are more than just an athlete. Do it through your words, your actions, what you recognize and reward, etc.
3) Don’t deny that you or your athlete may be struggling. The chances are higher than you think and the potential consequence of avoidance is just too large.
“She basically thought her life was over. She was no longer able to be the athlete that she was, she was failing her teammates. And she wasn’t able to succeed in school now. And I think ultimately, that’s why she took her life, because she thought her life was over,” he added.
At the end of January, Catlin made a serious but non-fatal suicide attempt, and was involuntarily admitted to the locked psychiatric ward at Stanford, her father told CNN.
A month after that attempt, she took her own life."
This news article covers the story of a young lady named Ellie as well. Both of them sustained serious head injuries that kept them from being able to perform at the level they once did.
Both ladies died by suicide in the last couple of weeks.
Could it have been prevented? Maybe, maybe not.
But what we do know is that we can always, always do more.
I encourage you to have your athlete(s) start by taking the Athlete Mental Health Quiz, and then go get the ATHLETE! 7 Mindset Hacks book when it comes out in a couple of weeks.
What we put into our minds changes our thoughts. And when we change our thoughts, we change our emotions. And when we change our emotions, we make different decisions.
You are more than an athlete- you are meant to do extraordinary things in your life that transcend sports.
Dedicated to your joy and success in sport and life,
Coach Andrew J Simpson
