John Weston Parry is a lawyer, writer, and former substantive legal editor with many years of experience covering issues related to sports, mental health law, and disability rights. He has been the host and primary content provider for the website and blog, Sportpathogies.com since 2016.He also is the author of The Athlete's Dilemma: Sacrificing Health for Wealth and Fame (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017) and Mental Disability, Violence, Future Dangerousness: Myths Behind the Presumption of Guilt (Rowman & Littlefield, 2013). In addition, he is a past recipient of the Manfred Guttmacher Award from the American Psychiatric Association and the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law. He lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Lawyer/legal editor/mental health specialist Parry presents an in-depth study of the mental health and emotional well-being of professional athletes, particularly those who are stigmatized in the sports industry and in society for seeking professional help or taking a break to improve their mental health. This book shows that some athletes--especially the more famous ones--who seek help from a psychiatrist or counselor often find themselves barraged with criticism and outright nasty or hurtful comments from people on social media and in the press. Parry's book is ripe with current scholarship, including personal statements from dozens of well-known athletes and potential solutions to many related social issues. Of particular interest is a distinctive and memorable chapter about 'evolving COVID risks.' It would be hard to find a current work in this area more thorough and complete than Parry's. Timely and important, this title has the potential to change the sports industry worldwide.

From afar, elite athletes may appear to have it all. But many of them may be at greater risk of mental health-related problems than mere mortals because of brain injuries, use of substances to manage pain, performance-enhancing drugs, and the stress of competition. Parry, a lawyer who directed the American Bar Association's Commission on Disability Rights, cares deeply about this issue. With some notable exceptions, including Michael Phelps, Simone Biles, and Naomi Osaka, athletes rarely talk about mental and emotional struggles. Parry appropriately devotes significant space to the abuse of athletes by authority figures like Larry Nassar and to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), shown to horrifically harm some boxers and football players. In 2011, just before he fatally shot himself, former Chicago Bears safety Dave Duerson asked that his brain be given to the NFL's brain bank. A year later, San Diego Chargers linebacker Junior Seau also asked that his brain be preserved before he ended his life. Other former athletes battle substance abuse, "a dysfunctional way to fill a hole in their lives that athletics once filled." A powerful call for awareness and change.

The Burden of Sports is a great primer on how the elite athlete can be more prone to mental health issues than the average person. Behind the veneer of wealth and public adulation there is a darker underbelly of sports that can leave athletes with permanent physical and mental scars. Parry parses

through these issues in a thoughtful and engaging way.

The struggles of superstars such as Naomi Osaka, Simone Biles, and Michael Phelps have put the issue of the mental health of athletes front and center in our discussion of sports. John Weston Parry's timely book, The Burden of Sports: How and Why Athletes Struggle with Mental Health, is a much needed and even-handed look at the various issues athletes face in their quest to entertain us and become the best they can be. While Parry focuses mostly on the problems in major American spectator sports, I think this important book will resonate throughout all levels of the national sports landscape.

In the illustrative tradition of Leonardo Da Vinci, Parry's work provides us with a beautifully researched and written atlas of the dynamics of a win-at-all-costs mentality. It vividly portrays sports' ableism, physical perfectionism, and exploitation and marginalization of "losers" and those who do not conform to conventional heroic stereotypes. From experts and students of sports medicine to bioethicists to sports fans and the general public, all will learn from, enjoy, and cheer on the thoughtfully artful author as he gives new meaning to being "a good sport".

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pub date: 2024-02-20

Length: 376 pages