This book explores a series of case studies of how American sports journalists have represented mental health and illness since the 1900s. It begins with an overview of the historical treatment of the mentally ill in the US. Next, Bishop acknowledges the fraught relationship between sports writers and the leagues and teams that control their access to athletes. Sports writers often have closer, cozier relationships with owners and the management than other reporters do, which sometimes impacts a story’s framing. The bulk of the book describes decades of media representations of athletes' mental illnesses, ranging from suicidality to bipolar disorder. The result is a dense history and critical analysis concluding that, historically, sports writers were not attuned to the struggles of their subjects because they were too worried about promoting the sport, the league, and the team. Even today, although media coverage of mental health concerns has increased and writers offer more nuance and sensitivity, the tendency is still toward sensationalized coverage privileging the team over self-care. Sports reporters have not always given complicated people and complicated situations the complicated stories they require, resulting in too little action to support the mental health of athletes. Recommended. All readership levels.

Choice Reviews

“Ron Bishop has written a very important and long overdue book about mental illness and professional athletes. Bishop points out that journalists and society have long denied the human tragedy of athletes who struggle with mental illness. As someone who has long suffered from mental illness, this book left me with the question, what if? If Bishop’s book broadens our perspective about mental illness, it will have accomplished something so few books have done,”

Chris Lamb, Indiana University-Indianapolis, author of Conspiracy of Silence: Sportswriters and the Long Campaign to Desegregate Baseball