Beyond the medals: Supporting athletes’ mental health

Elite athletes spend years training for one defining physical performance. But long-term success depends equally on mental resilience. Public scrutiny, the stigma of appearing vulnerable, and the post-competition crash can make that as challenging as the sport itself. “For professional athletes, it’s about numbers and one or two performances and less about having fun, like it was when they were kids,” said Arlington, MA-based psychologist Jeffrey Brown, and author of the book, “The Winner’s Brain” and a senior lecturer at Harvard Medical School. “They may have done a routine thousands of times, but they only get one chance to perform it for a...