Prevention of mental illness begins with our sport community, which includes National Sport Organizations, Canadian Sport Institutes, Multi-Sport Organizations, Coaching Associations and other professionals servicing high performance athletes.
To create a high performance sport environment that is psychologically safe and healthy, as defined by the Mental Health Commission of Canada, the following needs must be met:
- Psychological Safety: a psychologically safe workplace is one where every reasonable effort is made to protect the mental health of workers.
- Psychological Health: a psychologically healthy workplace is one where every reasonable effort is made to promote the mental health of workers.
The Canadian high performance sport system should aim to embrace psychological safety, health and resilience in the daily training and competition environments to provide a successful, sustainable and value-driven place of work for athletes, coaches and staff.