Mind Game by Julie Kliegman

MIND GAME by Julie Kliegman is subtitled “An Inside Look at the Mental Health Playbook of Elite Athletes” and she does an excellent job of helping readers understand what stresses elite athletes face. Kliegman, the copy chief for Sports Illustrated, begins with a foreword from Layshia Clarendon who plays for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association. Her take as an athlete? “The most jaded parts of me believe that professional sports and mental well-being do not go hand in hand because the demands are too high.” Kliegman then includes a section on how mental performance shapes athletes and writes about stereotypes and the history of sport psychology.  From there she continues with sections on speaking out, on dealing with a diagnosis, and on substance abuse. Suggestions like mindfulness are noted and Kliegman concludes “Athletic or not, we are all worthy of robust mental health.” The text is accessible for high school and college students and researchers will appreciate the roughly twenty percent of the text which is devoted to bibliographic notes and a helpful index.