Throughout the week, we will be telling stories pertaining to mental health, in conjunction with movember and men's mental health. Our teams (via the men's hockey program) have a page dedicated to the cause, click hereto donate. 

Bisons soccer veteran Dalima Chhibber understands the pressures placed on high-level athletes. Growing up in India, both of her parents were soccer players, and her dad made it pro, as did her sister and her brother. Chhibber followed in their footsteps, with her dad serving as her coach along the way. 

Chhibber's skill was never questioned. She rose through the ranks as a versatile midfielder, all the way up to India's senior national team, but along the way she felt the pressure that was placed on her to perform. 

"My dad has always been my coach. It was a benefit, but there were certain disadvantages as well. There were lots of expectations, big shoes to fill and being on top of your performances. That built up to being nervous and not being able to perform," she recalled. 

"I remember talking to my dad about feeling lots of pressure. I remember with my national team I played U14, U16 and I was the captain for U19. Now it's another step. I was 16, 17 years old [on the national team] and everyone else was around 25. When you enter from the U19, it's a total change of atmosphere and expectations. That is when I realized that if I would have had some help or someone to talk to, it would have made a complete difference in how I would have performed earlier with the senior team."

Chhibber's first tournament with the senior team was the South Asian Games, which is an important event on the calendar. She was in the starting 11 as a 17-year-old, and the magnitude of the situation was evident. 

"I was so scared and so nervous. I could not get a hold of myself. I did not even perform at 15 percent that day, and all of my decisions were so bad. I remember I got a few passes and I lifted my leg and the ball just went under my foot so many times," she says. 

"From there it kept building up. You've been given this chance, you know you're capable and have the talent, but you need to perform. I started putting that big rock in my head that you needed to perform better. That particular tournament I played the first game and then I sat out all the other games. It took a lot of work for me."

From that point on, Chhibber's performance slowly increased, but it also became clear how much she "needed to have control" over her mind, and that she was being "unrealistic" about a lot of things. It was from that point onwards that she began to understand that mental health and psychology in sport make a big difference.
 
Furthering her research 
Chhibber's desire to promote mental health in sport led her to Manitoba, where the recent graduate of UM's soccer program is doing her master's degree on mental health in professional soccer players. Her focus is specifically on athletes in India, where there's a clear lack of mental health support, however it's evident that the matter is not isolated to her home country. 

"Doing my literature review and going over what already exists, there's not much out there and I'm talking about sports in general, not just soccer. Mental health, there are organizations talking and players talking on social media, but that is what it is, for the show. When you actually look at the evidence, there's not much about it, and I was so shocked. When I looked at mental health and sports in India, there was no evidence, no research," she noted. 

"When I was collecting data, I had to base it so much off of other countries and continents in general. When I narrowed it down to mental health in soccer players, there was a handful of research. We're not focusing on what actually needs to be addressed."

Chhibber's experiences on the Bisons soccer team have helped her learn more about mental performance in sport. She's leaned on experts in the area such as Dr. Leisha Strachan and Craig Brown for their input and support. 

"Even when I was away playing with the national team, Craig would still check in and see how I was doing. We would still talk and I would tell him what was going on, and I realized how much of a difference it has made," she says. 

"As an athlete, when the only thing that matters is the result, you tend ignore your feelings or push them away. You don't realize, sooner or later when you come back, it's a literal breakdown. When that breakdown happens, it hurts you in all possible ways and it hurts you on the field. Working with Craig, I have been able to acknowledge that part as well as an athlete and look at myself as a whole person, not just a robot who's supposed to be performing."

With all that being said, the question for Chhibber lately, both in her research and on the pitch, has been how to cope with constant pressure. This was one of the topics she discussed as a panelist for the World Health Organization (WHO), who organized a virtual question and answer session via Facebook on World Mental Health Day on October 10. 

"Whether I'm in a competition or not, I like to do breathing exercises. I take five minutes to get myself back to reality. Other than that I like to do art. If I'm doing something, it distracts me from my mind running in 2000 directions and gets me to the task at hand," Chhibber commented.

"I like going for a walk, listening to podcasts and being with my family, eating my comfort food. I like to journal a lot. Whenever I doubt myself, I have my three best performances written down in pages in detail. What did I do that day? Why did it work for me? Everything in detail. Whenever I doubt myself I just go back to reading that. It's an awakening that you are capable."

Regardless as to whether you are a high-level athlete or not, Chhibber urges others to make spaces safe and comfortable. This is particularly important coming out of COVID, where depression rates have increased, according to the WHO.

"Whether you are a hugging person or not, if you see your friend, just go give them a hug. We don't realize it, but on a given day that would just make them feel warm and safe. When you see a person, ask them how they're doing. It's simple things but they have bigger results."