When he led a double life, hiding his sexuality from his baseball teammates, and overcoming the many fights of this mystery, Billy Bean tried to go it alone. His fear and anxiety were overwhelming, and ultimately the only solution he could find was to leave the game entirely.
“My life could have changed,” says Bean now, “if there was a sign on the wall saying that there is someone I can talk to.”
That sign exists now. And Bean, in his role as Vice President of Major League Baseball and Special Assistant to the Commissioner, is one of the people responsible for ensuring that current players know where to turn for help with their emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing.
The pressures and stressors of professional sport are well documented and in many ways more pronounced in the age of social media. But the past year has challenged and influenced all of us in unprecedented ways, and athletes are not immune to this difficulty.
From the initial uncertainty of the 2020 major league season to adhering to strict COVID-19 protocols that are still in place, to losing an entire minor league season, to national reckoning for racial injustices, there was in one game a lot to deal with whose everyday life demands so much from his players.
“The problems we had were only exacerbated by COVID,” says Dr. Larry Westreich, MLB’s Behavioral Health and Addiction Advisor. “The isolation, the fear of contagion that any sane person would have at this time has exacerbated everything, as well as the loss of livelihood that was threatened or actually happened to many people in our industry.”
A recent Sports Illustrated story described a deluge of players leaving baseball for personal reasons. In that article, Ray’s reliever Ryan Sherriff, who is working back into pitching form after leaving the team on April 3, described his struggles with mental health issues in the hopes that he would get peers dealing with the same issues can inspire those to seek the help they need.
MLB also sees this moment as an opportunity to show players the availability of its Employee Assistance Professional (EAP) program, which provides voluntary, free and confidential assessments, advice, referrals and follow-up services to players, coaches and their families.
Every MLB team has at least one EAP trained to solve a wide range of problems that affect mental and emotional wellbeing, such as: B. alcohol or drug abuse, stress, grief, family problems or mental disorders. The program has been in existence for more than 15 years and has been continuously developed to meet the needs of a specific moment, such as the COVID concern that emerged over the past year.
While privacy concerns limit the league’s ability to advertise certain achievements, the program has had many success stories over the years.
Westreich says: “We keep beating the drum: ‘If you twist your ankle, you better see the sports coach. If you have the yips there is a mental skills trainer. And if you are feeling anxious or depressed, there is a clinician on your team who can help you just as you would with your twisted ankle. ‘And I think we were very successful with the players with that argument. “
The club-centric EAPs coordinate with expert advisers from the Commissioner’s office for additional guidance on these confidential deals. And that program works in addition to, and not in place of, the coaches and sports psychologists who hire most major league teams.
“It’s important to both our office and the office [MLB Players’ Association] Develop guidelines that enable these structures to be created, ”said Jon Coyles, MLB vice president of drug, health and safety programs. “But I think the most effective model is to have these boot-type doctors available on site, to be in the clubhouse, to be around – maybe even sometimes on club trips – who can intervene immediately when the need arises is an emergency. Most importantly, it is not a stranger who comes in to try to help. “
The requirement that each club provide confidential psychological resources to players on a voluntary basis in a private area was included in the 2016 Collective Bargaining Agreement of Sport, and a The Player Resource Center is also available online and via a mobile app to provide players with information for advice and support.
This season’s health and safety protocols also included a requirement that club staff be provided with educational materials and written materials on mental health issues.
“That was really important,” says Coyles, “because last year was really tough and this year is more difficult in some ways because we can see that light at the end of the tunnel, but we’re not quite there yet.” . ”
Starting with the rookie career development programs held every winter and continuing with the Ahead in the Count program designed for the Dominican Republic’s teaching league and club academies, MLB has sought to make its youngest players aware of the resources to do that will be available to them for the duration of their careers.
The league found that younger players tend to be more comfortable asking for help as their generation has gained greater awareness of the importance of mental wellbeing.
“Our entire society is getting better at addressing these problems,” says Westreich. “What happens on baseball lanes to what happens in sport in general and tracks what happens in general culture.”
In addition to the EAP program, MLB has promoted a method called “Mental Health First Aid” in clubs, which trains non-clinicians – such as coaches or sports coaches – to listen to and potentially relate to their employees’ problems to a trained specialist.
To deserve or require professional attention, a player’s personal problems need not be as serious as the one Bean once contested. For example, for a teenager from the Dominican Republic, homesickness can be a particularly strong stressor. Other players may have a child who, after a career, has trouble concentrating on a new school.
Any of these issues can affect a player’s performance or the basic joy of coming to work on a daily basis.
Bean emphasized to today’s players that mental wellbeing is just as important as a daily fitness routine. He has tried to dispel the old stereotypes and stigmas historically associated with mental health therapy. Such therapy was not readily or readily available to Bean when he needed it most as a gamer in the 1990s, and knows more than most what a valuable resource it can be, especially at times like these.
“It’s an amazing development,” says Bean, “from where baseball was when I played it to where we are now.”
