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Rick Rypien. Photo by ME. Former Vancouver Canuck tough-guy, Rick Rypien, was found dead in his Alberta home this week. We do not yet know the circumstances of his unexpected death but it was known that Rypien was "fighting some personal demons". He took a personal leave from the Vancouver Canucks to deal with his issues and was then picked up by the new (not-so-new) Winnipeg Jets. Sports reporter Dan Murphy has written a touching blog post about Rypien and here is an excerpt from that post:

I truly believed that Rick was on the road to recovery. Obviously I don't know the depth of the issues he was dealing with however it seemed like he was coming out of the darkness. More importantly it seemed like he wanted to beat what was ailing him. The Canucks kept what Rick was going through a closely-guarded secret, and for good reason, because they didn't want to force the young man to talk about his issues until he was ready to. And you know what? He was ready. A few months back he contacted me to help write his story. He was finally open to the idea of speaking about his demons. He wanted other people who may be suffering the same illnesses to know they weren't alone. He knew that because of who he was, that his voice would be heard. It is just so sad that he will never get that chance.

When I heard about Rypien's death I was shocked, and then immediately concerned for the mental wellness of our athletes because this past summer we have also lost hockey enforcer, Derek Boogaard, and aerial skier, Jeret Peterson. Boogaard was just out of rehab for substance abuse when an overdose took his life; and, Peterson, who suffered from alcohol abuse and depression, had lived through a number of traumatic events (including sexual abuse and the loss of his sister when he was only five years old) until he could handle them no more and took his own life with a gun.

Derek Boogaard How often do we take the mental well-being of our athletes into consideration? We certainly take their physical health into consideration, although not necessarily for long-term benefit. Athletes are regarded as a higher echelon of society. We expect them to perform day-in and day-out. We expect them to entertain us. We expect them to win for us. We expect them to give back to their community. We expect them to perform ethically. I am not arguing that being a professional athlete is what led these men to a premature deaths, but I do think that living the life of a high performance athlete can exacerbate any emotional/psychological issues one may have. After all, the team comes first does it not? Isn't that what we are taught from a young age - take one for the team. The individual, in this rare case, comes second. Look on any sport conditioning/high performance website and you will see what their mantra is for physical and mental conditioning and perhaps something about education and nutrition, but I have yet to see any thought given to the athlete's wellness as a functioning human being.

A huge stigma exists around mental illness. I really don't think we have figured out any real way of dealing with mental illness in Western society except for medication, which is hardly a solution. Everything that exists in society also exists in sport, and vice versa. Sport is neither a microcosm of society nor a reflection of it; rather, sport and society are one in the same and thus, mental illness exists in sport. But who would rationally and openly discuss their personal weakness in an arena that valorizes strength of any and every kind? I certainly wouldn't.

Jeret "Speedy" Peterson. Photo from
Zimbio. Anyone who is, was, or knows a high performance athlete knows that, in reality, these are often times some of the most unhealthy individuals on the planet. They put their body through hell, personal relationships may commonly be put on the back burner, and those who compete hard also often party hard. Research reports that varsity athletes generally drink more than their non-varsity counterparts (e.g. see Ford, 2007, Substance use & Misuse; Huang, Jacobs & Derevensky, 2010, Archives of Sexual Behaviour). Varsity athletes often have something to celebrate, or need something to drown their sorrows in, OR feel like they deserve to have some fun because being a student athlete is extremely draining!

I led a first year tutorial this past academic year and on the first day of class students were asked to draw and give a definition of their personal idea of health. I don't remember one of them writing down anything about mental health or spiritual well-being, and these are the students that will most likely become physical education teachers, kinesiologists, fitness trainers and the like. I hope that after four years of schooling their definition of health will change but that will also require change from the industry and society at large.

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