Pittsburgh-area psychologist offers insight on mental health challenges Olympic athletes face

PITTSBURGH — A Pittsburgh-area psychologist who has worked with Olympic athletes is shedding some light on some of the mental challenges these athletes face.

Dr. Aimee Kimball is a psychologist and was the Mental Performance Coach for the 2022 U.S. Women’s Olympic Hockey team.

According to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee Senior Director of Psychological Services, about half of Team USA’s athletes in the last two Olympics were flagged for anxiety, depression, sleep or eating disorders and substance use or abuse.

Kimball told Channel 11, “There is a lot of pressure to win gold because you feel if you don’t do that, you’re either failing yourself, depending on the sport, you’re failing your teammates and you’re failing your country. And it shouldn’t be like that.”

Dr. Kimball says that other athletes at the top of their game speaking out about mental health, like Simone Biles and Michael Phelps, go a long way to break the stigma for world-class athletes.

“It helps them to give that confidence that this doesn’t have to hold me back,” said Kimball. “It might be an obstacle for me to perform well consistently, but I know it’s an obstacle that I can overcome because I’ve seen other people do it as well.”

Kimball says it’s important for athletes to train their mental health as well as their physical health before they get to the games.

That includes breathing techniques and visualization.

Kimball said, “If they can see themselves doing, doing things correctly if they can see themselves, finishing the race the way that they need to, once they can get that positive image in their mind, it’s easier to put away some of the worries that they have.”

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