I’m a Teen Athlete. We’re Missing Something Important About Concussions.

Student View: My sister died during a mental health crisis after a concussion. I pushed for a new Colorado law to educate kids, coaches and families.

Today’s concussion conversation focuses heavily on when athletes can return to play. It spends far less time preparing families for what can happen emotionally after a concussion. Parents are taught to watch for headaches and dizziness. Coaches are trained to recognize physical symptoms. Athletes are evaluated before returning to play. But when it comes to mental health, student-athletes are often left to navigate that part of recovery with little awareness and far less support.

For my family, this isn’t an abstract policy debate. My older sister, Alyssa Peterson, died at age 13 during a mental health crisis after experiencing multiple concussions starting in 2017. In the years that followed, I watched my family search for answers as we learned more about the emerging science surrounding concussions and mental health. What we discovered was not certainty about every question, but growing evidence that concussion recovery also requires paying attention to mental health.

That evidence led us to advocate for Alyssa’s Youth Concussion and Mental Health Protection Act (Alyssa’s Act) in Colorado, which expanded concussion education to include mental health awareness. The goal was simple: to help ensure coaches and families know what to watch for so young athletes can get support when they need it.

Following speaking at a legislative hearing on Alyssa’s Act, I remember rushing to soccer practice. It felt strange to go from talking with lawmakers about something so personal to worrying about drills and practice like any other day. I looked at my coaches and teammates and wondered if they knew to watch for mental health changes after a concussion. If one of us began struggling emotionally after a head injury, would anyone recognize it?

I watched my mom sit for six hours waiting to testify at a second hearing. I knew I was going to miss soccer practice, which meant I would likely miss playing in my next game. But the effort mattered because families deserve better information about the possible mental health effects of concussions.

Then Alyssa’s Act passed this May. Colorado became the first state to require that mental health be included in concussion education. But the conversation shouldn’t be limited to Colorado.

It’s time we stop treating mental health as an afterthought in concussion recovery. Most families simply don’t know that concussions can also lead to changes in mood, anxiety, depression, irritability and social withdrawal. These changes can easily be dismissed as hormones, stress, or simply being a teenager. But sometimes they deserve much closer attention.