| This study explored the experiences of American football players in order to unearth barriers to mental health service utilization. Interpretive phenomenological analysis guided this qualitative study in order to maintain the participant's unique voice and perspective as they explored their experience. The sample consisted of eight former American collegiate football players, two of whom had limited experience playing professional football. Five participants identified as White, one participant identified as African American, one participant identified as African American and White, and one participant identified as Creole. The results revealed 30 themes, which were organized under the following five super-ordinate themes: hierarchical culture of American football, deindividuation of football players, self-sufficiency and stigma, mental health misinformation, and valued services. The findings on the hierarchical culture and deindividuation of football players were consistent with research that demonstrated that sports serve as a vehicle to solidify individual's masculine identity (Messner, 1989; Messner, 1992; Roberts-Douglass & Curtis-Boles, 2012), whereby traditional masculine norms are reinforced by the values and structure of American football (Good & Sherrod). The findings related to self-sufficiency and stigma, and consistent with previous research (Berger, et.al., 2005, Bowman & Walker, 2010) demonstrated that many men who maintain traditional masculine gender norms which deify self-sufficiency hold negative views around seeking professional psychological help. These findings were related to and compounded by the lack of mental health information that contributed to heightened perceptions of stigma of mental health concerns and treatment. Finally, results indicated that football players would be more likely to seek help for mental health concerns if team leaders were vocal in supporting help-seeking behaviors, and if the mental health services were tailored to their unique experience as an American football player. |
