THURSDAY, Sept. 24, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Nearly 2 in 5 college athletes say they have grappled with suicidal thoughts, according to a new survey of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) student athletes.
What’s more, nearly 9 in 10 (86%) said the NCAA should require mental health services and suicide prevention training for all athletes, researchers reported recently in the journal Behavioral Sciences.
"Student-athletes are telling us that they're struggling, and they're telling us that they want resources," lead researcher Allison Bond said in a news release.
"If we continue to not provide that for them and not address their struggles, we're dropping the ball as clinicians, researchers and as communities to meet their needs,” Bond said. She's an assistant professor of urban-global public health at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
For the new study, researchers surveyed 78 student- athletes across NCAA Division I, II and III universities regarding suicidal thoughts and suicide prevention.
Previous studies have found that suicide is the second-leading cause of death among NCAA athletes, researchers said in background notes.
The suicide deaths of Madison Holleran, a runner at the University of Pennsylvania, in 2014, and Katie Meyer, a soccer goalie at Stanford University, in 2022, both received widespread media coverage and highlighted the mental health struggles of college athletes, researchers noted.
Athletes face many problems unique to college sports, researchers said — juggling expectations from coaches and fans, navigating travel schedules, and worrying about losing their scholarship or financial deals if they’re injured or fail to perform on the field.
Legalized sports betting has added to that stress, with the NCAA reporting that 1 in 3 high-profile student athletes have received threats or abusive messages from gamblers, researchers noted.
"A wide receiver misses a pass, someone loses money and suddenly that student is getting bashed on Instagram," said Bond, a former student-athlete. "These are 19-, 20-year-old kids. How are we equipping them to respond to that hate? How are they mentally coping with that while they're still trying to pass classes and do well in school?”
Results showed that 40% said they’d had suicidal thoughts, but only 36% had received any suicide prevention training in college.
Instead, 47% cited teammates and 41% parents or guardians as their most common sources of support when dealing with mental health issues, researchers said.
"We all feel more comfortable talking to people who walk a similar path in life, so we can understand that," Bond said. "But that means we have to give teams the tools to respond to these crises, and they have to have the opportunity to follow up.”
The athletes overwhelmingly supported suicide prevention training and mental health services for themselves and their peers, the survey found.
"Our results show that athletes want more widespread information on suicide and mental health, and most haven't gotten that in college," researcher Taylor Rodriguez, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Mississippi, said in a news release.
"Since nearly 40% of the athletes have experienced suicidal thoughts themselves, I wonder if this desire stems from their own experiences having difficulties but not having adequate information to navigate them,” Rodriguez said.
This sort of mental health care needs to be woven into the college athlete experience, Bond said.
"A one-time training is going to have a really hard time moving the needle on stigma,” Bond said. “We need to change the cultural norms within athletic departments to make sure we're promoting mental well-being while supporting this high-risk group.”
More information
The University of Washington has more about college athletes and suicide.
SOURCES: University of Mississippi, news release, Sept. 21, 2026; Behavioral Sciences, Sept. 21, 2026
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