Reclaim You- Athlete Mental Health Challenges
Season 2 Episode 16: Athletes Mental Health Challenges with Paige Thompson
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In this episode, Sarah and Paige Thompson discuss mental health in athletes. Paige shares her personal journey as a collegiate athlete, detailing the challenges she faced, including an eating disorder and burnout. They explore the pressures athletes encounter, the importance of support systems, and strategies for navigating mental health issues.
Takeaways
Connection is a vital theme in mental health.
Athletes often struggle with identity outside of their sport.
Burnout is a common issue among athletes.
Support systems are crucial for recovery.
Mindfulness and self-compassion are effective strategies.
Eating disorders are prevalent in the athletic community.
Transitioning from athlete identity can be challenging.
It's important to recognize signs of burnout early.
Therapy can provide essential support for athletes.
Athletes need to prioritize their mental health.
Thanks for listening to Reclaim You with Reclaim Therapy!
To learn more about Reclaim Therapy and how to work with a therapist on the team, head to https://www.reclaimtherapy.org.
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Sarah (00:00)
Hey everyone, welcome back to Reclaim You. Today, Paige Thompson is joining us on the podcast.
She is a licensed professional counselor with a practice in Philadelphia and virtually across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Vermont, and Ohio, where she specializes in providing therapy for folks struggling with eating disorders, athletes' mental health, and perinatal time as a college athlete that she discovered the true value of therapy in caring for one's whole self, and she's passionate about supporting others in caring for their mental health.
So welcome, Paige.
Paige (00:34)
Thanks, I'm excited to be here.
Sarah (00:36)
I'm so grateful that you came on and we're gonna be talking all about athletes and mental health today. so to start the episode, what I've been asking folks is what does reclaim you mean to you?
Paige (00:42)
I'm excited.
Love that. right now in my life, I think too, we are like kind of always evolving. feel like I say this and like, you know, maybe I could have a different answer tomorrow, but right now I feel like it's kind of connecting to other people in my life in a really authentic way. I feel like I've done a lot of work in time, kind of getting to know myself and connecting and.
Sarah (00:59)
Ha
Paige (01:09)
kind of figuring out what my values are and what feels good for me. And that's also kind of now I feel like transitioned into finding other people out like parts of myself I like and I enjoy people's company. so yeah, I feel like there's been times when my life has been centered around other things, but right now I feel like there's a theme of connection.
Sarah (01:28)
That's awesome. And I know that, you know, because you collegiate athlete, really wanted to connect with you on, you know, working with folks who are athletes and the struggles that come along with that. So, yeah, I'm excited to talk more about that and your experience as an athlete and...
even just like the process of reclaiming you through that experience of what it was like to have, I would imagine, your world kind of consumed in athletics and then shifting out into something completely different and getting to know different parts of yourself all over again. So I feel like it's all interwoven.
Paige (02:00)
It very much is. feel like that's one of the reasons I love working with athletes because it's, some of it is a little bit of the like, you know, specific to that experience. And some of it really is just like allowing them to, you know, figure out who they are in and outside of their sport.
Sarah (02:15)
Yeah, yeah. Can you share a little bit about your experience as an athlete and kind of what that process was like for you?
Paige (02:24)
not the most traditional path or experience and probably not even how my like high school younger self would have envisioned this going. said that, I feel like it's definitely shaped who I am and I wouldn't change any of it. Went through, so my soccer was kind of like my Went through the...
college recruitment process in high school. played soccer all my life and this is what I decided I really wanted to do. And the recruiting process was kind of stressful, but up choosing a school that I felt really good about and felt excited. once I got there, I
There was like in any level of like being a freshman, there's a big transition, there were nerves, there was a little bit of like imposter syndrome of can I keep up? And you're also meeting a brand people. So would say that like it was going well at first and of the challenges started to set in of like I wasn't playing as much as I would like to and not figuring kind of finding my place both on and off the field and
Being in a totally new culture too, like there were so many elements of like I grew up in the South and I'm now in, I was in a relatively, yeah, like sheltered conservative area. Now I'm in this Northeast college environment. So there was that element on top of everything.
long story short, impacts not playing that much to find my place. was, you know, some depression and anxiety and things were brewing that were already, you know, maybe there were some seeds planted already there, but it really kind of exacerbated those things and brought it out. And I really didn't have the coping skills or the capacity or the, a way to cope with that in an effective
things like that I think back to that, know, looking back, I'm like, okay, that was not a big deal. But at the time, absolutely does not feel that way in the moment. But like not being on the, so when you travel or when our team traveled, only a certain number of people were allowed to like or you could only have so many people on the bench. So whether you were injured or just not a part of the like, you know, starting roster.
Sarah (04:07)
Yeah, for sure.
Paige (04:23)
or close enough, you didn't travel. And that felt like such like an isolating, devastating, embarrassing experience. Like you stayed on campus and I went to a small school and everybody knew that your team was off playing. And I'm like, my God, I don't want to leave my dorm because I don't want to run into anybody. So there are little things like that that I feel like other, I don't know, maybe non athletes just don't even
Sarah (04:41)
Gosh, yeah.
Paige (04:49)
think about. So yeah, that was a little bit of the struggle of the adjustment. I think this is where my path gets a little unusual. and why I'm so passionate about athletes mental health is that all of those things ended up, you know, combined with other things going on in my life and some predispositions and stuff I ended up, you know, using food and exercise and all these things to cope it got
to the point where medical staff at the school and all diagnosed me with an eating disorder and pretty much told me that I needed to go seek a higher level of care treatment. And in the athlete world, you don't even miss a practice because you're sick. don't there's no like, I don't feel like it today or I'm really tired. I'm not feeling my best. That's not an option. You show up no matter what.
Sarah (05:28)
Yeah.
Mm
Mm
Yeah, you go.
Paige (05:39)
fevers and you know be injured and you're still expected to show up to everything. So when I heard that I was like pretty much I was in denial. But long story short ended up deciding to take a medical leave of absence my towards the end of my sophomore year of I guess my first semester of sophomore year. like Thanksgiving Thanksgiving break I went home and I didn't come back.
And at that time in my head, I'm like, you know, I'm gonna go home, I'm gonna go do what they want me to do, go to treatment and I will be back for the spring semester. No questions asked. And you know, my parents thought so too. And we all, my coaches, everybody were like, that was like, okay, did I know kind of how extensive treatment is and how much work this is gonna be. And this is not a quick fix type of situation.
Sarah (06:22)
Yeah.
Paige (06:28)
So over the course of being in treatment over like Thanksgiving break, winter break, all of that, ultimately decided to extend my medical leave through the second semester of my sophomore year. And at that point, I thought I was like, okay, I'm done. Like, I will never be able to come back from this. They're not gonna want me on the team. I'm kicked off. Like, this is all I've known my whole life. I'm not gonna graduate on time,
Now looking back, like, it does not matter if you graduate on time, but that felt really big at the time.
Sarah (06:58)
Yeah. yeah, I imagine it did.
Paige (07:02)
So yeah, long story short, completed treatment, got to a much better place and was ready to school. my, like have to give a shout out to my coach, my athletic trainer, our strength and conditioning coach. Like I could not have asked for a better support system. They were all extremely, extremely supportive and pretty much just kind of like whatever you need. We're here, whether you're here at school, whether you're...
home and in treatment, whether you're coming back to play, whether you're coming back and not playing, they were very like, let me lead, which I know that that is not everybody's are absolutely amazing. And I can't say enough good things about them. But so yeah, I came back to school. And, you know, at this point, I'm trying to figure out what does recovery look like?
Sarah (07:38)
Yeah.
Paige (07:50)
And how do I mesh that with my athlete identity? Because I was so ready to like 100 % be like, I'm good. Like I can go back to playing, practice, lifting, you know, all of these things that we're supposed to When really like, you know, for anybody who's been through you're like taking your life and throwing it upside down and it's pretty rattling.
you're trying to go about living your life in an entirely different way. So I kind of played around with what this would look like. I said, because my coaches and staff and athletic trainer, all of them were so supportive and understanding, I ended up kind of like I would practice here and there, but I wasn't expected. I didn't have to be there. I think it was also managing like, you know, at that point I needed to.
still be in therapy and see a dietician and had a group and had medical appointments and like how am I supposed to manage all of that on top of school and there were times when my therapy appointment interfered with practice and I was able to go to therapy or show up late to practice or things like that and I know that that is not you know a usual long story short I returned to the sport but in a completely different
way with a very new relationship with exercise and there was a lot of trial and error and still even, you know, figuring out how to have a healthy relationship with exercise. wasn't ready to let go of like, I'm not on the team or I'm not an athlete and this has been a part of my life, my entire life that I can remember. do think it was really...
Sarah (09:21)
Yeah.
Paige (09:24)
important for me to still have the support like my teammates were my best friends and they were really instrumental in you know making that transition back to school possible some of my best friends to this day. I think the coming to terms too with like my role on the team and how that was going to look a little bit different than what I had envisioned. I became the hair braider, the cheerleader, the support person and
Sarah (09:42)
Mm
Paige (09:48)
You know, at the time I was like, that's embarrassing. And now I'm like, wait, I felt like I was able to eventually embrace it and see that it also, I still had an impact.
Sarah (09:59)
so much grief going through that experience. would imagine like losing what you expected it to be and then time on the field and time at school even and relationships.
Paige (10:09)
Yeah, definitely not how I envisioned college going. But like I said, it's now, I feel like shaped so much of who I am and given me so much perspective too of like what feels like the end of the world and the moment is truly not and probably a trajectory to a path that, you know, allows you to live a life that feels a little bit more healthy or authentic or
Sarah (10:32)
And I guess while we're talking about this, what do you see in your practice when you're working with folks who are athletes and also struggling with disordered eating or eating disorders? And I know with your lived experience, you went through it so you can understand it on a really deep level, but what do feel like people are up against as they're going through that process?
Paige (10:50)
a lot. feel like it's, you know, the, one of the reasons I love working with athletes is they tend to have, they tend to be driven. They tend to be, you know, high achieving and inquisitive and curious and want to learn. And I think that these are all really awesome qualities, but they also tend to put a lot of pressure on themselves. So that's the first thing I think of when you like, what are you up against? And most of the time people are like, it's me. I'm the meanest to myself. Like,
Sarah (10:51)
huh.
Mm -hmm.
Paige (11:16)
So there's, you know, that critical part of us, this kind of deprecating voice, whatever it Oftentimes there's coaches or staff too that, you know, I was really lucky in my experience to have such supportive staff, but there are plenty of experiences and current athletes I work with now who that is like their biggest challenge to navigate is this relationship with someone who has so much authority and so much power.
Sarah (11:22)
Mm
Paige (11:41)
seems to negatively impact their mental health or not know how to connect in a way that feels both like pushing someone and
Sarah (11:51)
with the pressure, I'm thinking about the pressure and just some of the other more common, I guess, mental health struggles for athletes that you see that are, yeah, the most common ones.
How do you help folks navigate those things? I know the list can be very, very long, but I mean the pressure in and of itself to do school, to be an athlete, to get playing time, to rest, to go to strength and conditioning, to go to practice. There's so many boxes to that I think mental health struggles are just so common and it's not talked about enough in athletics.
Paige (12:23)
Absolutely, think that like similar to what I said before the qualities that make you a wonderful athlete and student, the driven, maybe some perfectionism, some self -criticism, people pleasing because you want to please your coach and authorities and teammates and all of those things a lot of themes that come up in therapy. while we can, I think similar to kind of like IFS approach of like there are no bad parts, like we can appreciate that these things have
served you in so many ways and where they also interfering or bringing us down or feeling really heavy. So think it's a lot of I guess those are more of like the qualities which can lead to a lot of anxiety, a lot of depression, eating disorders, a lot of you know panic attacks with performance anxiety and things like that.
think all of that on top of, like, I think about just, like, the general age of onset when a lot of mental health conditions and challenges show up is, like, the college age. And so let's throw, you know, some more pressure on top of that, and it becomes a bit of a pressure cooker.
Sarah (13:24)
Yeah, yeah. What do feel like are some strategies to navigate that?
Paige (13:27)
I think a lot of mindfulness and self -compassion, which I know when I say this to some of my athletes, they're kind of, you know, the first reaction is, yeah, little poo poo it, but like, it really does work. And I feel like I understand that it is hard to implement and to apply. We can also see a lot of the building awareness around our.
Sarah (13:35)
It's like eye roll.
Paige (13:50)
thought patterns and a little bit of that CBT stuff of like, how do the thoughts that we're having before we step on the field impact our performance or how much we're enjoying something? I think it's a lot of building awareness around our dialogue, our relationships, some being able to be in the present moment and fostering kind of resilience in a way that.
feels authentic to you. feel like some people really, you know, resonate with some of the self -compassion exercises and some people, some people don't and I think it's figuring out what works for you.
Sarah (14:25)
Yeah. That self -compassion piece, you know, I think that we talk about it like every podcast episode. It's so important. And people do, they're like, god, like that's so, you know, whatever. But it really is super helpful to help build resilience, right? Like thinking about resilience and thinking about soccer players and I never played soccer, but like it can be kind of all eyes on you, right?
Paige (14:29)
Hahaha
Sarah (14:44)
I mean, that feels like a lot of pressure. And then if you do something or mess up and I don't know the technical things sucker, but if you mess up, it's kind of like, it can feel really, I don't know, like a dagger, you know, where these more kind of their team -based sports, but there's also these like individual spotlights in a way. yeah, resilience in every step of the process feels so important.
Paige (14:55)
Mhm.
Absolutely, think that, you even thinking about how we bounce back from once, like, you're explaining, like, you lose the ball. Like, how do you cope with that in the moment so that it doesn't bleed into the very next play or the next time that you have the opportunity to contribute on the field?
Sarah (15:12)
Yeah.
was at a restaurant watching. I can't remember it. Was it the World Cup? No, it was the Olympics. I don't know, it was in summer. Okay, yeah, yeah, the Olympics. Okay, and they were doing the, gosh, what's it called? The like, I'm like, field goals. It's not field goals. It's the kicking. That's it, yep. They were doing the kicks. And the one guy, he missed it, like epically missed it. And I had this like, this poor guy. the world is watching.
Paige (15:26)
Most recent was in the Olympics. Yeah.
Sarah (15:46)
How does one kind of cope with that and bounce back from that? But that's the thing, like resilience, right? Like we're not gonna be perfect all the time. It's just, you know, that's a set up for failure to feel like you're gonna get it every time, be perfect every time. But yeah, when I think about resilience, that plays in my mind. Like that's so hard, that poor man, that poor man.
Paige (16:04)
a perfect example and probably the epitome of like those kind of like high pressure allies on you situation.
Sarah (16:10)
Yeah, on smaller scales, would call it in college and high school and things like that, but still, yeah, similar theme, And then what about burnout? So I feel like burnout is really common. know that I experienced in college when I was an athlete, I experienced burnout, especially my senior year when I was interning and schooling and rowing and working and doing all of the things. I was so burnt out and...
I think I like weaponized it against myself that I didn't have what it took to do all of the things. But what do you see around burnout with the folks that you work with or even throughout your story? How to just kind of like be with that and work through even maybe like signs of burnout too.
Paige (16:47)
Yeah, I think you make a really good point too that one of the most common things I see is people putting it on themselves of like, I'm doing something wrong or I'm causing this versus like, can we take a step back and zoom out and see like what system, what pattern, what routine is happening here that is making you feel this way because it is a lot like you just named I can't even name everything you just like it is it's lifts, it's, you know, training meetings,
so many team meetings, so many practices and doctor's appointments or PT and strength and conditioning and on top of classes and trying to keep up with all of that. And it is exhausting. I think,
Sarah (17:20)
Yeah.
like maybe having a social life, right?
Paige (17:27)
and whatever else is going on in your life, like family and things like that. Yeah, no, I think that burnout is so real and I think the quicker we can recognize it, the quicker we can tend to it. sometimes it feels like we don't have control over these things. We can't really choose to not show up to lift or not show up to these things. So what can we do very small shifts or what small shifts can we make in order
you know, make even just your day feel a little more exciting. And sometimes that means adding things outside of your sport or outside of kind of day to day tasks that you feel like you have to, you know, cross off the list. think keeping in mind too that like burnout doesn't happen overnight. It also doesn't, you know, heal overnight. So giving yourself that space and
Sarah (18:09)
Hmm.
Paige (18:13)
you know, if you're where you can, it's like taking a little bit of space. Like I'm thinking about even in our off season, we had, you know, there's a wide spectrum of people who are in the gym every single day and, know, attending every single optional captain's practice and this and that. you know, if you feel like you need a little bit of a break, like maybe giving yourself that permission to not do the most at all times. I'm a big believer that like we have off seasons for a reason because we can't.
year -round because it does it will burn you out.
Sarah (18:44)
Yeah, and lead to injury and like, you know, mental injury too, you know, thinking about exacerbating symptoms of anxiety, depression, eating disorders, perfectionism, like we could go on and on, but there are really real repercussions. And then sometimes just like ghosting the sport too. You know, I know part of my story is my senior year, the second half of the year, I was like, I am out. I can't do this anymore. And I quit. And like,
I'm okay with it and I wonder what it would have been like to recognize how burnt out I was earlier on so I didn't have to bounce my last semester of my college career.
Paige (19:09)
Mm
Yeah, yeah. And that is a really common and real experience too. And I think there's kind of a lot of strength in that and recognizing like, okay, maybe I'm at the point of no return or this is what I need in this moment and that's okay. I think that within athletes too, there's a lot of stigma around what I can't quit. yeah, that's, can't imagine life without this. What would that, yeah.
Sarah (19:30)
Mm
I can't quit. Yeah. Yeah.
And probably ingrained really early. think about folks who have been doing their sport for forever, right? Like your story, you did your sport your whole life. And you know, I know for me, there was a lot of belief around like, well, when you start something, you see it through, right? You go all the way, like you don't stop, you just keep going, which right is a recipe for burnout, you know? There's so much nuance in slowing down and realizing how to take care of yourself through the chaos and the hard and the good and everything.
Paige (20:06)
And I think about that too. And I'm like, okay, if current page could go back and like redo college, like, wow, I probably would have like, had so much fun and been a better player and been able to take care of myself and thinking about like, well, that's not realistic. And thinking about all of these current college athletes, like they're also 18, 19, 20. Like we can't expect them to know how to navigate all of these things because they are little
figuring out adulthood in the midst of all of this.
Sarah (20:35)
Yeah, and what they're supposed to be doing with the rest of their lives, right? Like the pressure is everywhere.
Paige (20:38)
Thank you.
part of being an athlete. It's, you know, depending on your sport, a lot of the time it's a given that that's something that you're going to experience at some point. I think there was a study in the Journal of Sports Medicine, I think it was, that was like,
athletes who are injured have more than double chance of developing depression. I feel like that is so real. Like probably for so many things of like we've talked about of that sense of identity that's wrapped up in your sport and sense of accomplishment and your social life is tied to your team and your teammates and you know, even I even think about like the amount of endorphins you might be used to from your sport on a daily basis to then go to like no amount of movement. Yeah.
Sarah (20:59)
Mmm. Yeah.
Yeah.
Yep. Yep.
Paige (21:22)
There are so many things that go into being injured. I think a huge part of it, I think about the college experience, the social isolation of sitting on the sideline while everybody else is participating, and that can feel so crappy. think that all of these things are a part of the sport and not something we can always, we want to prevent injuries as much as possible, but not always preventable. So when that does happen to really...
Sarah (21:43)
Mm
Paige (21:45)
be aware of, maybe you're at higher risk of feeling down and to people, talking about how you're feeling, figuring out other ways to feel a part of the team or having a role. If it's giving yourself the time and space to do what you need to do to recover. Like I think about some really like big injuries, like surgeries and things like that. Like that's a whole other thing you have to incorporate into your schedule is like PT and rehab and all of this and.
So giving yourself some grace that that is a huge responsibility and to prioritize your health and normalizing that that's an experience that a lot of people have gone through. So maybe even being able to connect or talk with other teammates, other athletes, other people who relate to your experience. Cause there certainly are people, but in the moment, I know it can feel like you're the only one who's to take a step back or not do what you love or.
Sarah (22:12)
Mm
Paige (22:36)
able to participate.
Sarah (22:37)
Yeah, that isolation and loneliness. kind of weaponizing whatever is turning in your head against yourself that there's something wrong with you or you did something wrong or you're not good enough or whatever it is. It feels important to name those things if they're coming up for folks as they're kind of navigating recovery and coming back and what it all means. And maybe it doesn't mean anything about you and your personhood
Paige (23:02)
even think about like there were times when I was in the training room because you were doing your rehab and the coach makes an announcement you're like wait how did I not know about this like Because you were taking care of yourself and doing what you needed to do and it was no fault of your own you were doing exactly what you should be doing and it sucks
Sarah (23:19)
Yeah, it does suck. It's really hard. And then there's that whole transition from identifying as an athlete to not identifying as an athlete. And that, I think, is such a hard transition for people. I know it was for me and like what relationship with movement could look like or what my assumption of what it should look like would be. And even like rebelling against movement because you didn't have to do it anymore.
And then who you are outside of being an athlete, it's like part of your primary identities, even though you can still be an athlete and not be actively participating in your sport the way that you once had. yeah, all that to say, can you talk a little bit about that transition and just maybe some insights on how to navigate that.
Paige (24:06)
Yeah, I think you gave a great example of there is a wide spectrum of how I have seen people respond to, you know, that transition away from your athletic career. And, you know, some people go and, you know, pick up marathons and other people are like, I am not working out at all. And I think that you kind of have to give yourself some space to figure that out. think that that's something that is
there's no right or wrong way to do it. I always encourage people to try different finding form of For me at first, it was like running and then I was like, wait, I actually really like group fitness classes or figuring out also what fulfills a little bit competitive side, if that's still there in a healthy way, of course. think that.
Sarah (24:46)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.
Paige (24:48)
biggest things that like I see, which I know we've named a lot of the like social aspect of being an athlete is also that sense of community and you're you know in college you're playing with your teammates, you're in class with your teammates, you're often living with your teammates, like these are people who are you have this built -in super tight -knit community and for me personally that was probably like the biggest thing that I noticed of like wait a second I have to
go make friends. I've never had to make friends before because they've always been my teammates and built in. So I think normalizing that experience that like it's okay if it's a hard transition. I would encourage people to like put themselves out there in some way and you know sometimes that includes that could be a form of movement like I know a lot of people who would go and join you know the rec league of whatever sport they played. think the identity piece
Sarah (25:16)
huh.
Mm
Paige (25:39)
is a big thing and like that's where I'm also a big proponent of therapy. Like it is okay to for this to be hard and to go and talk about it and process it. I think there's also a lot of strengths that you can walk away from the athletic experience with and like leveraging your skills whether that's like for your career or in your personal life whether that's leadership and communication and management and resilience and all of these things that so important and also and
Sarah (25:42)
Mm Yeah.
Paige (26:06)
so many aspects of life. think that the other piece of the identity thing is almost like we're at risk or susceptible to throwing ourselves into something else, i .e. work, and really feeling like we need to make that our whole being because we've had something, have this gap or this hole that we feel like we need to fill. And while I think that work ethic we're used to having can be super beneficial in a lot of ways, it also
Sarah (26:25)
Yeah.
Paige (26:33)
make it really hard to have some healthy boundaries and balance in life. So that would be, I guess, and when it comes to advice that would be my thing to be mindful about balance. That a lot of the time in college and and other aspects of athletics like you're told when to show up, you're told when to like I don't know when your season is and like you have all of there's a lot of rigidity and rules and
structure, I guess is the right word. And so you have this newfound sense of freedom and to enjoy that but also kind of maybe tread lightly with it that be mindful of how we're using it.
Sarah (27:07)
It can feel like a free fall to not have things upholding you in places to turn to all of the time. So yeah, it can turn on its head. And like creating pressure elsewhere too, right? Like the pressure of the sport and showing up and doing all the things. And it's kind of like you're used to that sense of just kind of like bracing and hypervigilant. So it's really easy, like you said, to fill the space with something maybe similar.
Paige (27:29)
Yeah, we want that sense of accomplishment and validation and all of those things that we got from our sport.
Sarah (27:36)
Yeah, which is super valid and important to kind of play with and figure out like what else might exist in life without this.
Paige (27:42)
Mm -hmm. Yeah, how can I get these needs fulfilled in ways that are not going to cause burnout?
Sarah (27:50)
Yes, yes. Do you feel like that was one of the biggest lessons you learned or were there other lessons that you feel like you learned throughout your experience as an athlete and afterwards growing into the person that you are?
Paige (28:03)
Yeah, I feel like that's such a hard one to like narrow down into a small like one answer but I guess I guess that does kind of answer like the the balance aspect of it of especially my journey of know stepping away from the sport for a little while and trying to return and like engage with it in a new way of finding the importance of balance that if you're not enjoying your sport, it's not like you're gonna get burnt out if you're
Sarah (28:06)
-huh.
Paige (28:28)
pushing yourself too hard, you're gonna injure yourself. If you're not having balance in terms of also having a social life and things outside of your sport, then that's also gonna be a problem. And I think that that theme or that goal of balance feels really important in my current life and something I'll...
want to keep in mind moving forward too of you know whether it's family and friends and work and learning and all of these things that think athletics has also shown me that I'm capable of like you know holding or wearing many hats or juggling multiple things at once and that it's okay new things and be a beginner at something
Sarah (29:09)
yeah. Is there anything else you feel like you want to add to the conversation that we haven't covered?
Paige (29:13)
I guess a little bit of the overlap between athletes and eating disorders. think that the eating disorders are much more prevalent than we even realize in society. I think athletes in particular, amount of athletes with eating disorder is more than double. I don't have the exact statistic, but I know that I have looked it up before because I wrote a blog post on More than double the general population.
Sarah (29:16)
Yeah.
We'll link to the blog post.
Paige (29:37)
which to me is not a surprise at all, but just kind of shedding some light on that this is a really susceptible population because of some of those qualities that we named when you're the perfectionism, the high achieving, maybe some of the people pleasing and hard work ethic, maybe a little bit of black and white thinking, we tend to go all
Things that can be really wonderful also make us susceptible. So just being mindful of getting good information around things like nutrition and a healthy relationship with exercise. And I'm thinking about even the college experience and how prevalent the freshman 15 conversation was and the culture around food and the dining hall.
I think being aware of these diet culture messages and how they can collide with sports and you can be pretty vulnerable to engaging with food and exercise in a way that can be harmful in the long run. even thinking about, I remember when I was like going through my recovery reading, if you like Google, know, eating disorders in athletes, like it talks a lot you know, there's gymnasts.
figure skaters, people or sports that are centered around like appearance or weight, wrestling, all of those things are especially susceptible. And I remember thinking like, I feel like they're missing something here because I feel like it's all know, yes, that is true. Like there is an emphasis on appearance and weight and in those sports. And I think that, you know, as athletes, you're also getting a lot of like information, whether from parents or coaches or
qualified quote unquote trainers who are telling you that you should be eating this way and that you should be working out this way and you're just getting inundated with information and we have to kind of take it with a grain of salt that some of that can really stick and be harmful.
Sarah (31:15)
Yes.
if there were just like a handful of warning signs for athletes and, athletes who might be experiencing an eating disorder or disordered eating?
Paige (31:36)
feeling like there's a right and a wrong thing to eat, injuries that you're not maybe more frequent injuries or injuries that don't really make a ton of sense so like overuse type things or like you know it wasn't a collision or something but this is just really like why do feel like I can't catch a break maybe we're not there's something called relative energy deficiency in your sport and I think female athletes in particular are really susceptible to this so
Sarah (32:00)
Yes.
Paige (32:01)
Yeah, anything like that where we feeling it in our bodies. It could be fatigue, could be injuries, could be even like things like hair loss and brittle nails and being cold all the time. are more of the like physical signs. But I feel like even when it comes to like our mental and emotional health, like isolation or feeling like you're like you have to
Sarah (32:16)
Mm
Paige (32:27)
I don't know, follow a specific plan or that what you're doing is not enough. Maybe that self -critical part is really loud. I think that those are some of the things that come to my mind.
Sarah (32:36)
Yeah, that's super helpful. That's super helpful. No, I mean, I feel like, yeah, you hit the big ones. And it's so hard, I think, to be an athlete and to reconcile that something might be going on because you don't want to. For the most part, you don't want to like leave or jeopardize your spot on the team or on the field or whatever it is. But I think that's where it's so important to reach out to folks who...
Paige (32:39)
Anything you would add to that?
Sarah (33:00)
work with athletes and have knowledge of eating disorders so that they can support you in making some really big and often hard decisions that will support you and your health for the long run. Because it's like we have to look past and it's hard to look past the college career or even high school, right? It's hard to look past that, but there's so much more life to live and yeah, people can help get you to that place.
Paige (33:24)
Yeah, absolutely. I think you make a really good point too about providers that are informed. was something that still to this day I run into with clients that I ran into in my own experience of like, you know, one doctor is praising me for having a low heart rate and the next doctor is like, no, no, no, no, no. Like the eating disorder informed doctor is like, no, this is a really bad sign of being malnourished. you know, had I not gotten that second opinion, that's really dangerous.
Sarah (33:50)
It is. It is. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we're so lucky that people like you exist. So tell us where folks can find you. So Paige, of course, is an eating disorder therapist like we talked about, and she specializes in treating athletes. So yeah, where can people find you on the internet?
Paige (34:05)
They can find me at pagethompsonlpc .com, which is my website. That is probably the easiest way. I a little contact form in really love finding people therapists. So even if I'm not the right fit, you're not in one of the states I'm licensed in, that is something that I feel really passionate about is helping people get connected to someone who is the right fit. So that is a, yeah.
Go, look, reach out to whether it's me or somebody else, like most of the time, or I can't speak for all therapists, but I do really feel like that's something that I love doing is connecting someone with resources, whether that is me or someone else or a system
Sarah (34:43)
And Paige has a blog, so check out her blog too. Yeah, and we'll link to that one blog post that you mentioned so that folks can look at that. And yeah, thank you so much for taking the time to come on and chat about this. Like I said, we're grateful that you're doing this work. Much needed.
Paige (34:59)
Thank you, it is something I really, really enjoy. So I am happy to be able to do it.
Sarah (35:03)
Okay, everybody will be back next week for another episode. So until then, take good care
Reclaim Therapy is a group of trauma therapists that provide therapy for eating disorders, EMDR Therapy and therapy or Complex PTSD.
Our team is passionate about helping people reclaim their lives from diet culture, body shame and the impact of trauma.
We would love to support you as you Reclaim YOU and the life that you undeniably deserve.