‘We need to be kind to each other’: What it was like to look after the mental health needs of Olympic athletes in Paris

Mental health and work go hand in hand. This is one of the reasons why the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee began expanding its team in 2020, and currently employs 15 full-time employees while maintaining a network of hundreds of other suppliers. (For one, the medical team even received sponsorship from the medical supplies company, Figs, which included medical professionals in the event.)

Psychologist Dr. Kweku Smith began working for the Olympics last year, and has been on site in Paris this month providing mental health services to athletes and staff, often working between 12 and 18 hour days. He shared his experience Fast company.

We have painted the picture. What did a typical day look like?

It is very difficult to explain. The best way I can say it, [it’s like] the longest day in the world. The best comparison is when you’re in college and you have a final exam and you’re just going and you haven’t slept in 24 hours. It was so. There was something going on.

We were accommodated in the village, where all the athletes lived. There was something called the High Performance Center (HPC) where American athletes practiced. We would go down there and give an elevator pitch, or give support by showing up.

We also had something called ART, which was an athlete resource center. There was a room for athletes, where they could come and get away from everything. We also visited each individual within ART. One of the best facilities was something called Mind Zone, which had VR sets. It’s a very Zen setting, and you walk in, and the athlete puts on the VR set. They can enter the arena or stadium and you can talk about what it’s like to face the audience: What things do we do to control our breathing? If we are so high, how do we come down? If we are so low, how do we go up?

There were places just to rest and relax. For those who like to draw, who like to draw, there was a drawing section, a drawing session, and one of the best things was that they had free postcards. Athletes could write to their families and friends, which helped them take their mind off the sport.

Another thing we will do, because some of us are very embedded in teams, we will teach teams how to have better relationships, how to improve team performance, and work on global goals that fit into individual goals. It’s a huge variety.

And I still had clients in the US who didn’t make it to the Olympics, who I would need to see after the day was over.

What are the most common problems you see?

Oh, there were many kinds of problems. But we divide them by functional or clinical issues, and I would say it was 65% functional and 35% clinical.

Sometimes it has nothing to do with sports. It’s clinical about what’s going on in their lives. If we can help you in your life, make you a better person, that will give you benefits in your field of play. Then there are athletes who feel good but want more profit. So we’re going to talk about dealing with anxiety, controlling your breathing and your emotions.

The athletes saw us because sometimes they just wanted to run away. Sometimes it was because of sleep. Sometimes it was anxiety. Sometimes they are looking for a friendly face because something recently happened at home, something that happened to the coach, something that happened with their teammates. It’s one of those things where you say, I didn’t know I needed it until I needed it, and then I had it.

Many times people look at the athletes who won, or who won, but you have to remember, there are athletes who never reached the semifinals, or reached the semifinals, did not win, or went to the finals, and their name was not called. They need the same kind of love, care, and compassion. We could celebrate great things with the athletes and the team, but we were there with those people who needed people at an important time.

I look at mental health services sometimes like a fireman giving you a smoke detector, and once you get the smoke detector, that will prevent the fire. And I think having us there meant a lot of fires were put out before they happened.

When it’s your job to take care of other people, how do you take care of yourself?

That’s a good question. I actually lost a family member at the Olympics, but I knew that it would help me to work—and what helped me was my team. We have self-care measures and we had another. We had an unprecedented number of employees this year.

What do you do to prepare athletes to return home after the Olympics?

We started this work well before the Olympics. When we train for the Olympics, what are we talking about, what are our goals? What will we do before the Olympics? What will we do during the games? What will we do after the game?

Other things to consider are where does the athlete expect to go next? Was this their last Olympics because they are retiring? Then we talk about what they need to do after the Olympics only but the work after the games. We have a pivot program that helps retirees transition. We also talk about how you can celebrate your time at the Olympics and remember it, and how do you move on to the next one? Most athletes hate that question, but we talk about it. We are preparing for the following. Do I need to rest or take care of the injury? What resources are available and how do I access them?

I’m a therapist, but I’ll tell you, the post-Olympic blues are our thing too. One of the things I did right away when I got home was a basketball camp with Jason Terry, a former NBA player.

I also think the Olympics do a good thing with the opening and closing ceremony. Closing is like graduation. . . It’s the end, but it’s the beginning. There is sadness, but it brings closure, while re-developing the next one. So even passing the torch from Paris 2024 to Los Angeles 2028, we say it’s over, but it’s not over yet.

Anything else you would like to add?

We need to be kind to each other. There have been some incidents including the stripping of a bronze medal from a boxer who was suspected of being a man, many athletes are suffering a lot on social media. Sometimes the people who did the best, were just hated, and received death threats. We had over 1,000 social media posts alerting staff to the threat. It’s not just the athletes, it’s the coaches and the judges.

Sometimes people turn off social media, but their families and friends and the extended community also hears things, and then there is a lot of trauma. Obviously, we have freedom of speech, but we need to use it properly.