awareness in both German society and sport has improved dramatically in the last decade.
“I would say that we have broken down taboos, meaning that we talk more openly with friends and colleagues about topics such as depression or anxiety disorders, and we also have who talk about their experiences,” Johanna Belz, a sports at Germany’s most famous sports university, in Cologne, told DW.
“In the past, we always said that competitive athletes had to show strength, stamina, and motivation, and mental stress didn’t fit into that picture at all. Now, however, we recognize that athletes are more than just their performance, and that we also need health and mental health. And that’s not a contradiction to performance, but rather a basic requirement.”
Despite this, German sport is still wrestling with a culture overly focused on output.
of this, but the sport also brings the largest amount of attention, which is important for further acknowledgment of topics such as mental health. Ultimately though, it is often Germany’s , such as swimming or athletics, in which athletes are in the most need of greater psychological support.
“I think the culture of performance is also greatly encouraged by the system, because performance is rewarded,” Belz said. “Athletes who are particularly high-performing are promoted, which means that the whole system is somehow based on this performance.”
She believes there is movement and recognition in this area, but implementation is sometimes still a bit difficult.
Mental Health Day
World Day on October 10 has been running since 1992. In Germany, The Mental Health Action Alliance (Aktionsbündnis Seelische Gesundheit), a nationwide anti-stigma initiative funded by Germany’s ministry of health, has been at the heart of promoting this work across the country. Since 2010, it has been calling for a week of awareness rather than just a day.
Perhaps the greatest indiciation of changing attitudes came in the recent World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, when German long distance runner Lea Meyer gave an extremely vulnerable and moving interview with German broadcaster ZDF after failing to qualify for the 5000m final.
“I had a great team around me reminding me that I can do so much and that I am more than my sporting performance, and that helped me hugely,” said, Meyer, who had revealed before the competition she had been struggling mentally.
“I had to remind myself that it — the sporting part of me — is not everything. It’s a big part of us and a part we love but that’s not fully me. The people who define me that way, I can happily do without. And whether I had won a medal or finished eighth or 15th or didn’t even make the final like today, I am still a great person. And that means a lot more to me than a certain time or position.”
For many, this was a significant moment where the athlete themselves reminded everyone watching that does not depend solely on their results.
“I think that’s a really great development, because it means that athletes are developing a healthy identity. Performance is part of their personality, but not the whole thing; we have much, much more than that,” Belz said.
“It’s also important that we see that these aren’t just athletes who win medals for our country, but they are also role models for children, and so it’s important that we look at the whole person.”
Keep moving forward
As is the case every year, Belz and many other sports psychologists around the country are keen to use the momentum of days like October 10 to create tangible and enduring methods of support. Along with colleague professor Jens Kleinhert, Belz is doing that both locally and nationally through workshops and individual support.
For 2026, Belz hopes to see an increase in proactive support so that sports psychologists are not just reacting to cases of such as , anxiety or an when they are already present.
“I think it’s extremely important that prominent athletes like Lea Meyer and others talk about this early on, that it’s important for me to be seen as a whole person, that I’m not judged for my performance,” she said.
The key is to create greater mental strength in young, competitive athletes at an early stage so that they can prevent mental illness from developing in the first place.
“In other words, as the metaphor goes, we should help people learn to swim rather than rescue them after they have fallen into the river.”
Edited by: Matt Pearson
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