Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1440267
Sound Off by Mark Wick STOOD ON THAT BRIDGE IN UPSTATE NEW YORK IN 2015 AFTER OUR ST. SCHOLASTICA MEN'S TEAM'S FRIDAY NIGHT GAME. I was contemplating jumping. I had enough of the battles. As a former hockey player turned longtime college coach (32 years to be exact), I hated to lose, but this was a game I felt there was no other way to win than by that forfeit of life. I came back down from that bridge, but my mental health continued to deteriorate with the depression taking over. Just a few weeks later, still acting out of sorts, our women's hockey coach at St. Scholastica, Jackie MacMillan, contacted my wife. She could tell I wasn't myself. Jackie helped save my life. From that point on I began seeing a therapist. And I'll be honest, sitting on that couch, I really, really didn't want to go. It wasn't easy. In fact, it was incredibly hard. But all things worth doing are. So, I went in. And I continued to go back. Things started to get better. I was getting the help I needed, and I found a confidence in claiming my story and recognizing the need for more in the hockey world to talk about mental health like they do an upper-body or lower-body injury. When it comes to mental health, we as a society, we keep it a shameful secret, afraid of how others will judge us, deem us crazy. So, we hide. That's why we don't see those strug- gles until they're too late. It's hidden behind a smile, or behind rage, or any other number of emotions or masks that we decide. It starts with a conversation. A friend asking if you're OK. Having those hard conversations are so incredibly important in ending the stigma around mental health. It's not a dirty word. It doesn't make you any less of a man or woman or athlete. In fact, the strongest people I know are those who seek the help they know they need in order to better their mental health situations. We don't play hockey hurt, why do we continue to go through life with mental illness un-remedied? So, this is my call to action to you, hockey family. Let's talk. Let's create a new con- versation around mental health. An open conversation, and an accepting one. We often call the hockey community a family. A brotherhood. A sisterhood. The support of our hockey family is unlike any other. Lean on that. Use that. Be open with one another and be there to lend a helping hand off that bridge ( before we are on the bridge). I'm always here if you need to talk. Mark Wick is an assistant coach with the Augsburg men's hockey team and mental health advocate. Don't Play Hurt We need to start treating mental health like we treat physical injuries I "We don't play hockey hurt, why do we continue to go through life with mental illness un-remedied? Together, let's change the culture and destigmatize mental illness in hockey. M H J ON L I N E . C O M | J A N / F E B 2 0 2 2 26 Photos / Jim Rosvold