mental health Awareness in both German society and sport has improved dramatically over the past decade.
“I would say we have broken taboos, which means we talk more openly about topics like depression or anxiety disorders with friends and colleagues, and we also have many prominent celebrities talking about their experiences,” Johanna Belz, a sports psychologist at Germany’s most famous sports university in Cologne, told DW.
“In the past, we always said that competitive athletes had to show strength, endurance, 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 we need health and mental health too. And this is not a contraindication to performance, but a basic requirement.”
Despite this, German sport still struggles with a culture overly focused on output.
Football is perhaps most guilty of this, but it is also the sport that attracts the most attention, which is important for further acceptance of topics like mental health. Ultimately though, it is often other sports in Germany, such as swimming or athletics, in which athletes are most in need of more psychological support.
“I think the culture of performance is also greatly encouraged by the system, because performance is rewarded,” Belz said. “Especially high-performing athletes are promoted, which means the entire system is somehow based on this performance.”
He believes there is movement and recognition in this area, but implementation is sometimes a little difficult.
mental health day
World Mental Health Day has been observed on 10 October since 1992. In Germany, the Mental Health Action Alliance (Mental Health Action Coalition), a nationwide anti-stigma initiative funded by Germany’s Ministry of Health, has been central to promoting this work throughout the country. Since 2010, it has been calling for a week of awareness instead of just one day.
Perhaps the biggest sign of changing attitudes came recently at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, when German long-distance runner Lee Mayer gave an extremely vulnerable and poignant 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 a lot and that I am more than just my athletic performance, and that helped me tremendously,” said Meyer, who revealed before the competition that she was struggling mentally.
“I had to remind myself that this – my sporting part – isn’t everything. It’s a big part of us and a part that we love but that’s not completely who I am. Those who define me that way, I can happily live without. And whether I won a medal or finished eighth or 15th or didn’t even make the finals like today, I’m still a great person. And that would have meant more to me than a certain time or situation Is.”
For many, this was an important moment where the athlete himself reminded everyone that his worth does not depend solely on his results.
Belz said, “I think it’s a really great development, because it means athletes are developing a healthy identity. Performance is part of their personality, but not the whole thing; we have more than that.”
“It’s also important that we see that these are not 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 concrete and lasting methods of support. Along with colleague Professor Jens Kleinhardt, Belz is doing this locally and nationally through workshops and individual support.
For 2026, Belz hopes to see an increase in proactive support so that sports psychologists do not simply react to cases of mental illness such as depression, anxiety or eating disorders when they are already present.
“I think it’s extremely important that prominent athletes like Lee Mayer and others talk about this from the beginning, that it’s important for me to be seen as a whole person, that I’m not judged based on my performance,” she said.
The key is to develop more mental strength in young, competitive athletes early on so they can prevent mental illness from developing.
“In other words, as the metaphor says, we should be helping people learn to swim rather than saving them after they fall into the river.”
Edited by: Matt Pearson