0:00:09.240,0:00:12.090 Announcer: Thanks for joining the Re-think and Re-Tool podcast 0:00:12.090,0:00:15.900 with Mehul Mankad, MD where we take a look at the people side 0:00:15.900,0:00:19.050 of healthcare and new ideas about enhancing overall 0:00:19.050,0:00:22.740 wellbeing. So welcome. The doctor is in the house. 0:00:25.950,0:00:29.250 Mehul Mankad: Welcome to Re-Think and Re-Tool sponsored by Alliance 0:00:29.250,0:00:32.580 Health. This is Meul Mankad, psychiatrist and Chief Medical 0:00:32.580,0:00:37.410 Officer for Alliance. Today on Re-Think and Re-Tool, we're gonna 0:00:37.410,0:00:42.570 start with a recipe. You take one part, first generation 0:00:42.570,0:00:48.090 college student, one part all ACC linebacker and two time team 0:00:48.090,0:00:53.730 champion at the University of North Carolina, one part NFL pro 0:00:53.730,0:00:59.040 football player for the Miami Dolphins and one part graduate 0:00:59.040,0:01:02.340 degree in mental health counseling. Mix that all 0:01:02.340,0:01:06.960 together and what do you get? Well, you get Dwight Hollier, 0:01:07.260,0:01:12.270 Senior Associate Athletic Director in Charge of student 0:01:12.270,0:01:17.280 athlete health, wellbeing and program outreach. I can't think 0:01:17.280,0:01:22.380 of anyone I'd rather talk to about the impact of athletics on 0:01:22.380,0:01:27.810 the body and mind. Let's get started. Mr. Dwight Hollier. 0:01:28.770,0:01:33.360 Yes, sir. Thank you for joining us on The re- think and re- tool 0:01:33.360,0:01:36.630 podcast really appreciate you taking some time with us. 0:01:36.719,0:01:40.349 Dwight Hollier: Oh, Doc, I appreciate the invitation. I'm excited to 0:01:40.679,0:01:45.929 have this conversation. You know, as you probably know, and 0:01:45.929,0:01:48.359 part of the reason we're having this conversation is mental 0:01:48.359,0:01:53.189 health is it's pretty important to me and, and something that I 0:01:53.189,0:01:57.839 think I've worked my career to, to work on. 0:01:59.010,0:02:02.190 Mehul Mankad: I, you know, I would love for us to get into 0:02:02.190,0:02:09.150 that topic. When I think of student athletes of any age, or, 0:02:09.180,0:02:12.270 you know, old timers like me that try to get out there and do 0:02:12.300,0:02:18.390 you know, whatever we do, my mind automatically goes to the 0:02:18.390,0:02:23.340 benefits of athleticism exercise, you know, that whole 0:02:23.340,0:02:27.750 domain. You know, I think of setting goals, I think of people 0:02:27.750,0:02:34.140 achieving, I think of the pride that people take and the joy 0:02:34.140,0:02:37.470 that people experience personally, and by watching 0:02:37.470,0:02:42.150 others that they care about succeed. And that's the easy 0:02:42.150,0:02:45.240 part. What what is that leaving out? 0:02:46.229,0:02:50.519 Dwight Hollier: Well, you know, I think that we do often focus on that 0:02:50.519,0:02:55.649 part, the, I wouldn't call it easy, but I think it is 0:02:55.649,0:03:01.469 certainly beneficial. It is it is gratifying, there are a lot 0:03:01.469,0:03:06.689 of adjectives to describe that side, that positive side of 0:03:06.689,0:03:11.729 athletics. Underneath that, though, is the the work that it 0:03:11.729,0:03:17.129 takes in order to, to perform it. And I'm at a university, so 0:03:17.129,0:03:23.579 to perform at a unit university level, at a D-1 university, on 0:03:23.579,0:03:26.129 the college level period. And even in high school, I mean, 0:03:26.129,0:03:32.729 there's a tremendous amount of study of preparation of 0:03:33.479,0:03:39.569 preparing your body of, you know, trying to fuel your body 0:03:39.569,0:03:47.219 the right way. And, and, you know, injuries happen. And there 0:03:47.219,0:03:51.869 are a lot of in addition to that there's the stressors of just 0:03:51.869,0:03:59.249 being a student of having to perform academically, taking 0:03:59.249,0:04:04.979 test, writing papers, and and not to mention the social 0:04:05.219,0:04:11.309 aspects of college life. And then on top of that, you throw a 0:04:11.309,0:04:17.699 pandemic, in the mix. And, and that creates a whole nother 0:04:17.729,0:04:23.459 level of challenges for for everyone, for everyone, 0:04:23.459,0:04:27.329 including myself, in case you know, I throw myself in that 0:04:27.599,0:04:30.719 bucket. I mean it you know, these last couple of years have 0:04:30.719,0:04:34.529 been the most challenging, I think, for a lot of people. And 0:04:34.529,0:04:39.809 that's true for for athletes in the way that they compete in in 0:04:39.809,0:04:42.839 the things that they've had to endure in order to be able to 0:04:42.839,0:04:47.429 compete, and even the time when they were not able to compete 0:04:47.429,0:04:52.259 and for some of our athletes, they were getting ready to 0:04:52.259,0:05:00.689 perform. getting prepared, I recall. We had an 0:05:00.689,0:05:06.209 undefeated team that was on their way to a terrific year. 0:05:06.359,0:05:12.509 And we had to end that season in the middle. And, and it was one 0:05:12.509,0:05:17.639 of the most difficult conversations to be a part of. 0:05:18.659,0:05:23.609 No, we had other athletes who were competing in a championship 0:05:24.719,0:05:28.769 and didn't get to compete and had to come back home because 0:05:28.769,0:05:32.549 of, you know, everything shut down. So there were some real 0:05:33.839,0:05:38.459 challenges. And I'm using challenges. But you know, 0:05:38.639,0:05:42.179 there's probably a better descriptor of that. Well, you 0:05:42.179,0:05:42.689 know, I 0:05:42.690,0:05:46.050 Mehul Mankad: think challenges. I think that's, that's a great 0:05:46.050,0:05:50.070 way to phrase it. And as you were speaking, you know, and 0:05:50.070,0:05:53.430 kind of thinking about your background, as a mental health 0:05:53.430,0:05:57.960 clinician yourself with that training. It sounds like some of 0:05:57.960,0:06:01.410 those challenges are internal, that the person puts on 0:06:01.410,0:06:06.810 themselves, their expectations, both in their athletic life, and 0:06:06.810,0:06:09.240 then in their life outside of athletics, and trying to find 0:06:09.240,0:06:13.080 that right balance. And then some of those challenges, as you 0:06:13.080,0:06:17.640 were speaking, are external, right, they're either imposed by 0:06:17.640,0:06:24.150 others, or random acts, that happen to people that are really 0:06:24.180,0:06:28.500 out of their control. And I just wonder, if you're the person at 0:06:28.500,0:06:31.650 the middle of all this, and you're trying to make sense of 0:06:31.650,0:06:35.940 the world? You know, what sort of guidance do you give to those 0:06:36.270,0:06:37.320 student athletes? 0:06:37.650,0:06:43.560 Dwight Hollier: Well, one thing I will say is, is, we have a fantastic 0:06:44.850,0:06:50.970 sports psychology in counseling program. We have three full time 0:06:50.970,0:06:54.000 clinicians that work in our athletic department, led by Dr. 0:06:54.000,0:06:59.610 Jenny Shannon, who's a sports performance psychologist, along 0:06:59.610,0:07:03.060 with Brendan Carr, Dr. Brendan Carr, who's also a sports and 0:07:03.060,0:07:08.370 performance psychologist, and Cydnia Young, who is a, who 0:07:08.370,0:07:12.960 is a licensed clinical social worker. And, you know, the three 0:07:12.960,0:07:17.370 of them work to support our student athletes in a terrific 0:07:17.370,0:07:22.920 way. And so, you know, as far as you know, how do we communicate 0:07:23.160,0:07:27.000 to the student athletes who find themselves in those challenging 0:07:27.000,0:07:33.090 situations? You know, I honestly leave it to our our resident 0:07:33.090,0:07:38.970 experts to do that. But I think it's, it's, you know, one 0:07:38.970,0:07:44.520 understanding that the landscape is very different than 0:07:44.520,0:07:47.820 it was when I was a student athlete, you know, when we are, 0:07:47.970,0:07:51.600 we're in a different place, where, when I was a student 0:07:51.600,0:07:58.230 athlete, we were told to suck it up, get your butt back out there 0:07:58.260,0:08:01.740 were strong, you know, you brushed that off, you get back 0:08:01.740,0:08:07.740 out there, you shake it off, in and don't dare cry when, what is 0:08:07.740,0:08:12.420 that a tear? You know, it's a different world now. And I think 0:08:12.420,0:08:14.760 one of the great things that we've been able to do is just 0:08:14.760,0:08:21.450 have conversations about mental health out in the open. In in 0:08:21.450,0:08:26.580 making it plain, you know, last week, we had a mental health 0:08:26.850,0:08:32.400 forum that we, that was organized through our mental 0:08:32.400,0:08:39.630 health group. And it was a mental health TED Talk, style 0:08:39.960,0:08:44.940 conversations and we had six, five or six student-athletes get 0:08:44.940,0:08:49.320 up and do a TED talk about their own mental health challenges. 0:08:49.350,0:08:53.070 And the room was filled with their colleagues, their 0:08:53.160,0:08:58.200 classmates, other student athletes, and it is one of the 0:08:58.200,0:09:02.280 most powerful things that that I've been a part of. And I think 0:09:02.280,0:09:07.590 that's one of the one of the teal keys to really 0:09:07.590,0:09:10.020 addressing the challenges around mental health is just having 0:09:10.020,0:09:13.440 conversations. It's just putting it out there. It's it's making 0:09:13.440,0:09:18.270 it plain making it part of the everyday conversations, and 0:09:18.270,0:09:21.480 not hiding it in a way that it's been hidden for so many 0:09:21.480,0:09:28.110 communities in the past and so many people in the past, so the 0:09:28.110,0:09:33.900 more that we can do that, the more student-athletes will have 0:09:33.900,0:09:38.160 the comfort to speak up and come forward when they find 0:09:38.160,0:09:39.870 themselves faced with challenges. 0:09:41.430,0:09:45.090 Mehul Mankad: That sounds great. We are going to take a quick 0:09:45.090,0:09:50.400 break. But when we come back, we are going to hear about Dwight's 0:09:50.580,0:09:51.420 guilty pleasure. 0:09:52.230,0:09:56.250 Unknown: At Alliance. We empower communities. We work through a 0:09:56.250,0:09:59.970 system of care to build on strengths of individuals for 0:10:00.000,0:10:04.830 partnerships, improve access to services, and tell the story of 0:10:04.830,0:10:08.910 the people we serve in a more complete way. By providing the 0:10:08.910,0:10:12.630 diverse communities we serve the tools they need to succeed from 0:10:12.660,0:10:16.800 education and training, to the development of care guidelines 0:10:17.100,0:10:20.670 to wayfinding through the system, we enable people to lead 0:10:20.670,0:10:25.200 healthier, more satisfying lives. That's the Alliance way. 0:10:31.470,0:10:34.980 Mehul Mankad: All right, we are back with Dwight Hollier from 0:10:34.980,0:10:44.970 UNC athletics. So let's get to the bottom of the matter the the 0:10:45.000,0:10:51.930 critical issue, and that is breakfast cereal. What does 0:10:51.930,0:10:53.820 Dwight Hollier eat in the morning? 0:10:54.540,0:10:59.460 Dwight Hollier: Well, I don't eat breakfast cereal. Now, but I 0:10:59.460,0:11:05.550 have a favorite from when I was a kid growing up in it is 0:11:05.790,0:11:06.690 Captain Crunch. 0:11:07.020,0:11:09.330 Mehul Mankad: Captain Crunch. And what is it about Captain? 0:11:10.200,0:11:10.700 Well, 0:11:10.980,0:11:15.360 Dwight Hollier: you know, I've thought a lot a lot about that. And I 0:11:15.360,0:11:21.510 think the alore was that we couldn't afford Captain Crunch. 0:11:21.870,0:11:30.210 So when we got it, it was really really special. It was really special. 0:11:30.210,0:11:38.430 So I think the fact that it was one of those high cost things 0:11:38.430,0:11:43.080 that you know, when you get it, it's it's, it's you know, it's 0:11:43.890,0:11:48.420 yeah, I Oh, that's a special comparisons in my mind to 0:11:48.420,0:11:52.320 nowadays. And it's, it was just it was it was a special thing? 0:11:52.320,0:11:55.560 Because it was no, it was something that you didn't have 0:11:55.560,0:11:58.530 very often. And when you when you had it, you treasured it. 0:11:58.830,0:12:05.190 Yeah, it also disappeared in the day, but it was good eats. 0:12:07.170,0:12:10.140 Mehul Mankad: All right, well, if I if I see you on campus, I 0:12:10.140,0:12:13.470 will try to get you a bowl of Captain Crunch, you may or may 0:12:13.470,0:12:20.880 not eat it. So, Dwight, I wanted to see if you had some thoughts 0:12:21.420,0:12:24.540 about something I've noticed with a little bit of a younger 0:12:24.540,0:12:29.220 crowd than the folks that you work with. But my guess is, 0:12:30.150,0:12:33.870 as they age, you know, they do come in to you with the same 0:12:33.870,0:12:37.800 background. And that is what I what I at least have noticed 0:12:37.800,0:12:40.890 over the past decade or so is I don't know what the right word 0:12:40.890,0:12:46.560 is. But the professionalization of children's athletics. You 0:12:46.560,0:12:49.620 know, when I was a kid, there were different seasons, for 0:12:49.620,0:12:52.740 different sports, everyone kind of agreed. And it was kind of 0:12:52.740,0:12:55.980 the pinnacle for a lot of kids in middle school or high school 0:12:56.100,0:13:00.240 to get to play on the A team or the varsity team, or, you know, 0:13:00.240,0:13:05.640 whatever it's called for that year of their school. And that 0:13:05.640,0:13:08.760 was kind of the end all like if, you know, if you're like, you 0:13:08.760,0:13:11.400 know, on the varsity football team like that, that's, that's 0:13:11.400,0:13:14.880 where you want it to be. I'm seeing something so different 0:13:14.880,0:13:19.290 now with with year-round sports, not only the pressure, but 0:13:19.290,0:13:24.180 the cost, the loss of, you know, weekends, for the parents, 0:13:24.180,0:13:27.930 they're traveling all over the the region, sometimes the country. 0:13:28.770,0:13:34.530 And the ability for students to cross-train and pick up 0:13:34.530,0:13:39.450 different skills is I, in my opinion, it's lost, all in the 0:13:39.450,0:13:45.960 service, of trying to be something. And I wonder about 0:13:45.960,0:13:50.430 the impacts that you see on the body and on the mind of these 0:13:50.430,0:13:53.460 kids and in you know, whether there is a benefit and a 0:13:53.460,0:13:55.230 disadvantage. I'm curious. 0:13:55.559,0:14:01.379 Dwight Hollier: Yeah, I think that there is one there that is that 0:14:01.379,0:14:04.139 is definitely something that you see a lot of is the 0:14:04.469,0:14:08.429 specialization that that is happening of athletes 0:14:08.429,0:14:13.019 specializing in a particular sport and it becomes a year 0:14:13.019,0:14:18.659 round. Basketball is the easiest one to point to when you talk 0:14:18.659,0:14:23.549 about a you and a lot of the programs that again, have 0:14:23.549,0:14:28.559 you playing basketball year round. And you're right, we're 0:14:28.559,0:14:32.099 not when I was coming up, we tried to play a little bit of 0:14:32.099,0:14:40.169 everything and I think that that that opportunity to to play 0:14:40.169,0:14:45.479 various sports also helped develop muscles necessary to for 0:14:45.479,0:14:51.839 longevity and sports. And one of the things that has been brought 0:14:51.839,0:14:58.649 to light in the last 10 or 15 years is that those who, who end 0:14:58.649,0:15:03.569 up specializing in and sports could potentially have a higher 0:15:03.569,0:15:08.279 incidence of certain injuries, stress injuries, because there's 0:15:08.879,0:15:13.169 the sport that they've only focused on one certain set of 0:15:13.169,0:15:19.229 muscle group, that can create some challenges. I know 0:15:19.229,0:15:24.509 that there are also sport coaches who would like to have 0:15:24.509,0:15:28.619 access to a great athlete who is overdoing one thing, and you'd 0:15:28.619,0:15:31.859 like to have them and have an opportunity to work with them. 0:15:33.989,0:15:40.469 But I think that the conversation, you will want the 0:15:40.469,0:15:44.459 opportunity, right, so the opportunity that a lot of young 0:15:44.459,0:15:52.439 people see. And, you know, I was one of them that it was, it was 0:15:53.189,0:15:58.859 the opportunity to go to college, or Yeah, through 0:15:58.859,0:16:06.059 through sports, or maybe the military, you know, but that 0:16:06.059,0:16:11.099 was, those were, those were my options. There was no money 0:16:11.129,0:16:16.919 available for me to go to college any other way. And I 0:16:16.919,0:16:21.659 think that that influences a lot of young people in their 0:16:21.659,0:16:26.819 families, and see this as a way out or an opportunity, and we'll 0:16:27.029,0:16:33.839 put up whatever they can in order to pay for covered that 0:16:33.839,0:16:39.869 expense to work, work out with a particular person or to play a 0:16:39.869,0:16:43.919 you and travel team. And we'll do engage in fundraisers, 0:16:43.919,0:16:48.479 whatever it takes to get there. And I and I think that that's, 0:16:48.929,0:16:52.949 that's important for for a lot of folks, and it would have been 0:16:52.949,0:16:55.559 important for me, to be honest. 0:16:55.710,0:16:59.040 Mehul Mankad: So it's two sided, I hear you loud and clear. I 0:16:59.040,0:17:05.220 wonder if there is a particular type of stress that comes with 0:17:05.460,0:17:10.140 that sort of commitment? I don't know what your thoughts are in 0:17:10.140,0:17:10.640 that regard. 0:17:12.270,0:17:17.220 Dwight Hollier: Um, you know, I don't know, I think some of it is, is 0:17:17.700,0:17:22.890 the kind of stress? Well, one, everyone's going to experience 0:17:22.890,0:17:26.190 it different, you know, whatever that stress is what you know, 0:17:26.190,0:17:30.900 you got five guys on a team on, you know, all five guys are 0:17:30.900,0:17:34.260 going to have different stress and will react to those 0:17:34.260,0:17:40.200 stressors differently. But there are stressors, you know, from 0:17:40.530,0:17:44.550 the pressures, they may feel from, from family, the pressure 0:17:44.580,0:17:50.730 to be successful. And some of it is just pressure that that they 0:17:50.880,0:17:56.850 put on themselves. So, it really depends on from person to 0:17:56.850,0:18:00.960 person, what that what that pressure is, or what that 0:18:01.620,0:18:06.570 stressor is, and how they react to those stressors. 0:18:06.930,0:18:10.170 Mehul Mankad: I wonder if there is an I don't know if this has 0:18:10.170,0:18:12.600 been studied. So I'd have to look this up myself, whether 0:18:12.600,0:18:16.710 there's potentially a greater risk of early burnout, or 0:18:16.710,0:18:20.280 disillusionment, if that is a sport that the child has been 0:18:20.280,0:18:23.940 playing 12 months, a year, you know, for 10 years before they 0:18:23.940,0:18:25.140 even get to college. 0:18:26.460,0:18:29.520 Dwight Hollier: Yeah, I think that that's a real possibility. And, 0:18:29.550,0:18:34.140 and, and there have been examples, in my three and a half 0:18:34.140,0:18:38.880 years here in the athletic department that, you know, 0:18:38.880,0:18:42.000 athletes who say, you know, I'm done, I've done this long 0:18:42.000,0:18:47.220 enough. And, you know, I don't know, I'm not attributing that 0:18:47.220,0:18:50.670 to anything in particular, but I mean, that could potentially be 0:18:50.670,0:18:55.920 it is, is, you know, this is run its course with me, and I'm 0:18:55.920,0:19:02.070 tired and, and I think I'm done in and, you know, at the same 0:19:02.070,0:19:05.130 time, you have parents who are pushing back and saying, you 0:19:05.130,0:19:09.030 know, you know, or suggesting that, you know, you need to keep 0:19:09.030,0:19:09.690 pushing through. 0:19:10.139,0:19:14.729 Mehul Mankad: Right, right, delicate balance, for sure. As 0:19:14.729,0:19:22.169 you think about your footprint, in the university and in 0:19:22.199,0:19:29.849 athletics, you've you've carved out a very specific role. What 0:19:31.319,0:19:34.889 keeps you going, why do you do what you do? 0:19:36.630,0:19:42.120 Dwight Hollier: That's a great question. And, you know, you 0:19:42.120,0:19:48.810 know, one thing I'll say is, this place where I am, has been 0:19:48.810,0:19:53.970 special to me since I was 17. Since the first time I came on 0:19:53.970,0:20:00.540 campus, it's been a place that I've really loved and I've been 0:20:00.540,0:20:06.600 able to, you know, take the things that I learned here, or, 0:20:06.630,0:20:09.690 you know, one of the things that I learned to love while I was 0:20:09.690,0:20:15.270 here was was psychology that I took as an elective. And ended 0:20:15.270,0:20:20.100 up double majoring in psychology was one of those majors because, 0:20:20.340,0:20:27.390 you know, kind of became very intrigued. Fast forward got a 0:20:27.390,0:20:34.680 chance to play in the NFL had a good experience going, but about 0:20:34.680,0:20:38.970 year, six or seven, I was, they were calling me the old dude in 0:20:38.970,0:20:45.120 the locker room. And, you know, I was like, 28. So, so I, I took 0:20:45.120,0:20:47.880 that to say, hey, you probably should start preparing for 0:20:47.880,0:20:50.880 something else. And, and psychology again, was one of 0:20:50.880,0:20:54.330 those things just spoke to me. So I decided to get a master's 0:20:54.330,0:20:57.510 degree in finished that before I finished playing down in Miami, 0:20:58.170,0:21:04.230 and then was out of the game a year later in, went to work 0:21:04.230,0:21:10.620 right away. And, and again, the work spoke to me it was, you 0:21:10.620,0:21:13.410 know, it's something that I feel like I'm supposed to be doing. 0:21:13.650,0:21:19.890 And I attribute that a lot to my, to my family, you know, I 0:21:19.890,0:21:21.990 mentioned, you know, we didn't have a whole lot when I was 0:21:21.990,0:21:25.530 growing up, but no matter what we had, we had our door open to 0:21:25.530,0:21:33.030 others. And, and I think that's the part of me, the counselor 0:21:33.090,0:21:40.500 wanting to help others. That's where it comes from. And, and 0:21:41.190,0:21:45.450 doing that work, having a chance to go and work at the NFL and 0:21:45.450,0:21:49.650 support and serve the the NFL brotherhood and then come back 0:21:49.650,0:21:54.660 here to a place that, again, is very special to me and my family 0:21:54.660,0:22:00.390 and met my wife here. You know, it's, it's a really, really 0:22:00.390,0:22:06.240 special opportunity to continue to serve and help provide 0:22:06.300,0:22:09.450 opportunities for student athletes and student athletes 0:22:09.450,0:22:14.280 who were like me who were first generation student athletes and 0:22:14.700,0:22:19.380 in, in, you know, make sure that we have the right resources in 0:22:19.380,0:22:24.510 place in that, you know, in ultimately that their their 0:22:24.510,0:22:30.270 mental health is well taken care of. I think that that's what I'm 0:22:30.300,0:22:34.590 supposed to be doing. And, and what better place to do it. And 0:22:34.710,0:22:38.670 then in Blue Heaven, you know, it's, it's just a really special 0:22:38.670,0:22:43.710 place. And, you know, obviously I'm biased. I'm really biased 0:22:43.710,0:22:48.240 about this place. But it is it is pretty special. 0:22:49.680,0:22:52.830 Mehul Mankad: Dwight hollyer, thank you so much for joining 0:22:52.830,0:22:53.330 us. 0:22:54.300,0:22:55.200 Dwight Hollier: Thank you for having me. 0:22:56.400,0:22:59.430 Announcer: The Re-Think and Re-Tool Healthcare in the New Era 0:22:59.430,0:23:03.270 podcast is produced by Alliance Health,a North Carolina public 0:23:03.270,0:23:06.300 managed care organization. This show was produced by Brandon 0:23:06.300,0:23:09.930 Alexander our associate producer is Denise Dirks and executive 0:23:09.930,0:23:12.960 producer is Doug fuller. View our show notes and hear other 0:23:12.960,0:23:17.100 episodes at Alliance health plan.org forward slash podcast. 0:23:17.160,0:23:18.450 Thanks for tuning in.