Alabama offensive lineman Javion Cohen revealed in an Instagram post Tuesday that he spent the past month in a rehab facility in Massachusetts for mental health reasons.
“The pressure we feel as athletes is insurmountable and can be overwhelming at times,” Cohen wrote in his post. “[I] don’t want to focus on the bad though, [I] want to shine a light on the good that has come from it.”
The biggest lesson he learned at Herren Wellness, Cohen wrote, was that “it’s not okay, but it’s not okay not to say it’s not okay.”
Herren Wellness was founded by Chris Herren, a former professional basketball player who struggled with addiction and became sober in 2008. Herren has been to Alabama in the past as a guest speaker for coach Nick Saban.
Cohen, a junior from Phenix City, started all but one game last season, missing one game due to injury.
Cohen wrote in her post that she previously felt she had no support and “no outlet to express my emotions … without being understood.”
“[Being here] taught myself and so many around me that this is not true,” she wrote. “[B]eing vulnerable doesn’t make you weak, it actually shows how strong you are.”
Cohen encouraged others to “stand up for their mental health” and not be afraid to seek help.
An NCAA study last year found that student-athletes “continue to report elevated levels of mental health issues.”
The NCAA surveyed 9,808 male and female athletes and found that while two-thirds of respondents knew where to go on campus with mental health concerns, only 47% felt comfortable seeking support from an on-campus mental health provider.
Among the findings, released by the NCAA in May, was that 63% of respondents thought their teammates took their teammates’ mental health concerns seriously, and 53% said their coaches took their players’ mental health concerns seriously.
