A social organisation based in Siliguri has taken an initiative to work for the improvement of the mental health of sportspersons in and around the city in association with North Bengal Medical College & Hospital, the oldest and largest state-run referral hospital in the region.

Amit Sarkar, the secretary of the Players’ Welfare and Rehab Society, said coaches from different fields of sports and doctors from five departments of the NBMCH had decided to start the journey.

“We work on the mental health of players who could not achieve their goals and end up with depression. We conduct therapy with games, sports and counselling,” said Sarkar.

Senior doctors at the NBMCH said according to the data available from the American College of Sports Medicine, around 35 per cent of elite athletes struggle with eating disorders, burnout, depression or anxiety.

“Sportspersons and their parents are advised to be always aware of the impact of injury, overtraining, social media scrutiny and unnecessary pressure,” he said.

As a part of the initiative, the society, along with others, has conducted 12 workshops with sportspersons of Siliguri so far, said sources.

Sarkar has said meditation classes are conducted for players who are talented but lack concentration.

“The players, whom we want to join the sessions, are aged between 10 and 19 years. We have found out that teenage players cannot handle failure and start losing interest in sports. We often see that a section of players feel nervous, because of which they fail in their goals. This idea is to ensure that they are mentally fit and strong and go out to play,” he added.

Sandip Sengupta, the dean of student affairs at the NBMCH, appreciated the initiative. “At the sessions, we concentrate on the mental health of players which is very necessary nowadays. We also work on players’ welfare, stamina, nutrition and medical conditions,” he said.

Along with Sengupta, some other doctors from different departments of the NBMCH, which include orthopaedic, pharma, physiotherapy, psychology and nutrition, are working on the initiative, said sources.