VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Whether it be stress about classes, relationships, or other issues, young student-athletes face a lot of mental health hurdles.
In fact, one in five college student-athletes are at risk for depression, according to a report in the National Library of Medicine.
State Senator and retired NFL player Aaron Rouse hosted a mental health and sports symposium. Former NFL players including Eli Harold, met in Virginia Beach to make sure students have the tools to help them succeed.
Rouse says many student-athletes have a lot of pressure to perform at a high level to get a scholarship or make it to the NFL. This sometimes creates stress.
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Here's what one student-athlete had to say.
"Seeing other people accomplishing their dreams stresses me out because I don’t know if it will happen for me," Shane Rodgers-Johnson, a high school student-athlete said.
Shane Rodgers-Johnson is a high school sophomore football player in Suffolk with big dreams.
"I want to either go to Clemson or UVA," Rodgers-Johnson said. "I want to go there so that my parents don’t have to pay for me to go to college and have them live rent-free when I go to the NFL."
"To play on the football field was an outlet for us," Rouse said. "My father was incarcerated and my mother worked numerous jobs."
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Rouse encourages athletes to not be ashamed to talk about their mental health.
"Playing at the highest level of football, you’re playing at an extreme amount of pressure of stress and having to perform on the field," Rouse said.
"Athletes say I’m not feeling well," Rouse said. "I’m physically okay but not mentally there and we need to destigmatize that. It’s not a sign of weakness to talk about how you’re feeling."
Dr. John Fanton, a psychiatrist also recommends talking through hardships.
"The mind and body are not separate," Fanton said. "They are so inter-dependable. You don’t have to suffer."
A survey by the NCAA found that two-thirds of student-athletes say they know where to get help on campus if they have mental health concerns, though less than half said they would feel comfortable seeking that help.
