Overlapping Worlds: Exploring How Nature Supports the Mental Health of Elite Athletes

By Olivia Grace Barnes

"While athletes carry the persona of being big, strong, competitive, and fierce, the burn of mental illness does not exclude them."

Approximately 35 percent of all athletes struggle with mental health issues and the stigmas that surround mental health. Olivia Grace Barnes' Overlapping Worlds explores nature's

• Language: English
• Publisher: Olivia Barnes
• Release date: Dec 17, 2021
• ISBN: 9781637309704

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Overlapping Worlds

Overlapping Worlds

Exploring How Nature Supports the Mental Health of Elite Athletes

Olivia Grace Barnes

New Degree Press

Copyright © 2021 Olivia Grace Barnes

All rights reserved.

Overlapping Worlds

Exploring How Nature Supports the Mental Health of Elite Athletes

ISBN

978-1-63730-818-9 Paperback

978-1-63730-880-6 Kindle Ebook

978-1-63730-970-4 Ebook

Contents

Introduction

Part 1.

Behind the Mind

Chapter 1.

Behind the Minds of Athletes

Chapter 2.

Michael Marsh

Chapter 3.

Jack Armstrong

Chapter 4.

Elizabeth Beisel

Part 2.

The Mental Game

Chapter 5.

Defining Mental Health

Chapter 6.

Stigmas and Shame

Chapter 7.

The Weight of Gold

Chapter 8.

If You Want to Go Far…

Chapter 9.

Speaking for Those Unheard

Part 3.

What I Call Nature Magic

Chapter 10.

Nature and Nurture

Chapter 11.

Follow Your Heart…But Take Your Brain with You

Chapter 12.

The Power of Nature

Part 4.

Returning to the Minds of Athletes

Chapter 13.

Same but Different

Chapter 14.

The Beauty of the Climb

Chapter 15.

Athletes by Nature

Chapter 16.

Overlapping Worlds

Acknowledgments

Appendix

Introduction

Imagine a beach. Imagine an empty horizon and beautiful waves that crash upon the shore. Imagine the calls of seagulls and the quiet solitude of the ocean breeze.

Now add cargo ships to that horizon. Add silt to the waves and replace their blue color with a murky brown. And instead of the quiet solitude of an ocean breeze, add the inescapable noises of cars, traffic, restaurants, and people. Welcome to Galveston Beach.

Unlike the beaches east of the Mississippi River, Galveston Beach is not blessed with white sands and clear water, but regardless of how obstructed and trashed this piece of nature is, without fail, I have always found peace in its rocking waves. The sounds of seawater rushing to meet my feet and the songs of the open ocean have always filled me with a quiet calmness, almost like the waves themselves as they ripple with the tranquility of the ocean wind.

And on a typical day at Galveston Beach, as I lay within the waves, I saw my first dolphin.

The moment was pure and sincere. I was not watching that dolphin from a film, a zoo, or an aquarium, nor from a whale-watching boat. It was simply me and the dolphin in the murky waters, both at peace in the soothing waves. It was almost as if, for the briefest of moments, the untouched and flawless world of nature showed me its beauty and grace.

I had spotted its dorsal fin first, sleek and gray as it crested the waves, and although I had originally thought a shark was swimming in the waters in front of me, I soon realized I was seeing my first wild dolphin. The fear that had initially rushed through my veins was quickly replaced by a feeling of wonder as it swam only a couple of feet away from my fingertips.

Although my life and the life of that cloudy charcoal-gray dolphin overlapped only for a second, that moment was one of the most defining moments in my life. In that brief instant, it was as if I became part of something bigger and more beautiful than I could ever imagine. But not only was I part of this bigger something, but I also belonged there as well. That dolphin awed me to the point of reverence, and as its dorsal fin slipped below the surface and vanished below the waves, I began to cry.

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Mental illness is a global pandemic.

Unlike the world-flipping COVID-19, this pandemic is not frequently talked about, there are few international efforts to end its presence, and those who suffer from it suffer in silence. But very similar to the coronavirus, mental health issues affect individuals in almost every country and can make people extremely vulnerable to sickness and death.

And although a wide range exists in the severity of mental illness, everybody is susceptible, including athletes. A heartbreaking statistic acknowledges that around 80 percent of Olympic athletes struggle with some kind of post-Olympic depression, and on this stage, I have begun to explore how to end the silence around mental illness in athletic communities and support those who need help.

As I look back on that day when I saw my first wild dolphin, I know now that my tears originated from a place of true and genuine awe: the combination of fear and happiness. It was the kind of awe inspired by the power and beauty only the natural world contains.

Over the course of my lifetime, I have had many experiences in nature, and I observed a common factor. Almost every time I spend time in nature, I return with an improved mental state. Whether it is simply the prolonged presence of peace or something more profound, nature has proven itself to have the power to affect the mind positively.

But why are these mental powers of nature important? And how do they play a role in ending the pandemic of athletes with mental illnesses?

Well, if athletes need help mentally, and nature can positively affect the mind, what if nature could be a remedy? What if it could help support athletes’ mental health and change their lives for the better? I believe that nature itself has the potential to lower the presence of mental illness drastically in athletic communities, but I also know that until the social stigmas around mental health fade, athletes will continue to struggle in silence.

I write this book through the lens of nature as a psychological power and mental illness as a global pandemic, as I explore the topics of athletics, mental health, and the environment. And while these three topics might seem disjointed, their intersection sheds light on the beauty and strength of these three overlapping worlds. Being a competitive swimmer since the age of six, an environmental enthusiast from the time I was born, and a victim of mental health issues myself, I am compelled to write this book for fellow competitive and elite athletes because I believe that three things need to change:

Awareness and open conversation around mental health must becomenormal.

Spending habitual and quality time in nature needs to become apriority.

Support of athletes, both mentally and physically, in athletic communities must become anecessity.

Through interviews, stories, and research from experts, I hoped to uncover a world where these changes can become common practice. My desire to address these issues has led me from a simple interest to a calling to speak up and speak out. With my unique platform, along with the support and guidance of others, I hope this book will shape and inspire change in our world.

Throughout Overlapping Worlds, I will uncover how nature affects the mental health of athletes and explore how it can help strengthen, maintain, and support the health of elite competitors. And while I geared this book toward my fellow competitive athlete, I hope any reader can find use and inspiration from the compiled stories, interviews, and research within.

Part I

Behind the Mind

Chapter 1

Behind the Minds of Athletes

A single race changed the entire trajectory of my life. It was a relay, one of the most memorable of all time, and I didn’t even know it happened until almost six years after the fact.

Five colors, five rings, countless flags, one world, united.

This was the Beijing Olympic Games.

With blinding lights illuminating the water and spectators packing the stands full, the eight teams marched onto the pool deck for the finals of the men’s 4x100 meter freestyle relay. A hush filled the natatorium as the swimmers took their mark upon the block. The athletes cocked every muscle in anticipation of the horn and directed every sense toward the pool.

And in a sudden beep, the race had begun.

From the very beginning, it was a battle for gold between the American and French athletes. The lead seesawed from one team to the other as the first, then second, and then third athlete raced their leg of the event. But even though the entire race was a captivating experience, the final 100 meters truly sent shivers down my spine as I watched that fight for victory.

As the final legs of the relay—Lezak for Team USA and Bernard for Team France—entered the water, the French relay had a defined lead on America, and at the 50 wall, Lezak was behind by almost a full body length. It looked as if the gold medal for the French team was inevitable.

But as they crossed the halfway point of the second 50, something remarkable happened. It wasn’t obvious at first, but as the distance between the two swimmers began to shrink, it became clear that Lezak had not given up on gold. Pouring on power and speed, Lezak rapidly gained on Bernard until they were dead even. And with only a few feet from the wall, Jason Lezak took his last stroke, out-touching Alain Bernard and the French team by only 0.08 seconds and setting a new world record! From the screams of Michael Phelps, Garret Weber-Gale, and Cullen Jones (the other members of Team USA’s relay) to the cheers of the crowd and to the shouts of the announcers as well, the excitement from that victory was palpable.

This race is one of the few races that excites me without fail. Although I have watched it countless times and already know the outcome, it remains forever engaging. And every single time I watch it, I can feel the emotion radiating from my computer or phone screen.

The men’s 4x100 meter relay at the 2008 Olympics is an unforgettable race for many reasons. First, all eight relays in that event broke the 3:13 barrier, making the entire final a historically fast heat. Second, Phelps, who led off the relay for Team USA, set an American record of 47.51 seconds but still only touched the wall almost half of a second behind than the Australian athlete Eamon Sullivan, who had set a world record on his leg of the race. Third, Alain Bernard, the anchor of the French relay, was the former world record holder in the 100m freestyle but still was unable to keep his lead from Lezak. Also, Jason Lezak swam a once-in-a-lifetime race with the fastest 100m freestyle split to this day with a time of 46.06 as he anchored that relay. And finally, this race marked one of the eight races that Michael Phelps won at that Olympics, setting a record in the process of the most gold medals won in a single Olympic Game.

I say that this race changed my life forever because as I grew up watching races like it, I developed not only a love for competition but an eagerness to push myself, both mentally and physically, to my limits. This men’s 4x100m freestyle relay will go down in history as one of the greatest races ever, and as I continue to grow deeper in my athletic career, I can’t help but wonder what was going through the minds of those athletes, French and American alike, as they made history.

Being a swimmer myself, I can imagine what was going through Bernard’s head as he tried to fight off Lezak in the last 25, or even 15 meters of their 100m freestyle. I can imagine how fatigued his muscles were and how much pain he would have been in. I can imagine how determined he was to win, but how upsetting it was to see Lezak close such a big gap so quickly. I can even imagine the mental pain he might have gone through during those last few meters as he did everything in his power to maintain his lead.

But even though I am a very accomplished swimmer, I have yet to compete on a stage as big as the Olympics and have no idea what the pressure and intensity might be like to be a world-class athlete like Jason Lezak or Alain Bernard. I know that I am not alone in being curious about what it is like to compete on a major stage. Whether through the post-race interviews or the commentary of announcers, clearly the prowess and capabilities of these athletes similarly fascinates the world, as does the behind-the-scenes—or better put, behind-the-mind—aspects of elite competitors.

My biggest questions are:

What goes through the athlete’s mind before, during, and after a monumental and exciting match or race like that 4x100relay?

How does it compare with other performances, specifically extremely disappointingperformances?

And how do athletes respond to and handle the pressure of being on a highly competitive stage, whether a national or internationalcompetition?

Through the stories and interviews of several high-level athletes, I have begun to learn more about and uncover what goes on within the mind of an athlete. And if you have ever wanted to meet or converse with an Olympic gold medalist and learn their secrets, have ever dreamed about standing in the presence of a true athletic prodigy, or have ever wondered what it would be like to watch the journey of an up-and-coming star, then you are in