Connect with us

Washington, D.C

‘It can affect everyone’: Capitals therapist details mental health struggles athletes face – WTOP News

Published

on

‘It can affect everyone’: Capitals therapist details mental health struggles athletes face – WTOP News


As the U.S. faces a mental health crisis, one therapist is telling WTOP that practicing mindfulness strategies could vastly improve struggles.

Regardless of their greatness on or off the ice, athletes are working on more than their physical well-being. They are also attempting to improve their mental health.

Dr. Kurt Ela, a licensed clinical psychologist and assistant professor in the outpatient programs at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, told WTOP that it is crucial to discuss mental health in all avenues, including sports, as the struggles remain and the consequences may be dire.

“I do think it’s a universal challenge,” Ela said. “Mental health can affect the young, it can affect the old, it can affect everyone.”

Advertisement

Ela, who also serves as the Washington Capitals’ therapist, will join a panel on athletes’ mental health following a special screening of “Shattered Ice” on Sunday, March 8, at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre in Northwest, D.C. The film centers on a teenage hockey player navigating life after his best friend and the team’s best player dies by suicide.

Films like “Shattered Ice” are important for spreading the message about mental health awareness, Ela said. However, its messaging can resonate better with younger audiences and connect on a personal level versus talking to a professional.

“There’s still a taboo around suicide and around mental illness,” he said. “A film like this really gets the word out that it’s not only OK to talk about mental health, but it’s crucial.”

‘They’re not alone’

Ela said the numbers show that the United States is dealing with “a mental health crisis.”

According to a 2023 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, two in 10 high school students seriously contemplated suicide, while 40% had “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness.”

Advertisement

“We’re talking big numbers,” Ela said. “Most of our youth are really struggling right now.”

Sports are slowly getting better at discussing mental health topics, Ela said. Multiple athletes, including basketball star Kyrie Irving, gymnast Simone Biles and figure skater Ilia Malinin, have spoken about their struggles in the spotlight of their respective fields.

Despite some advances, mental health struggles remain underreported overall, Ela said. One common thread among most people, including athletes, dealing with mental health problems is a reluctance to admit when they are struggling.

“They think that, ‘well, if I keep working hard, if I keep pushing through, if I keep winning or keep scoring goals,’ or whatever their sport is, that everything is going to be OK,” Ela said.

“They lose sight of the bigger picture that they’d actually play much better, they’d function much, much better if they were happier and really enjoying their sport and their lives.”

Advertisement

Other common signs some athletes display include being hard on themselves, withdrawing from teammates, being self-critical, not getting enough sleep and not eating enough.

“When that starts to happen, we start to worry that their mental health is really deteriorating, and they may not be doing very well from a wellness standpoint,” Ela said.

Practicing mindfulness strategies

Athletes with healthy mental states can recalibrate and focus on becoming the best athletes they can be, Ela said. That can be learned through mindfulness strategies that emphasize reflection and learning from each experience. That ability to reflect also allows them to focus on their sport and their relationships off the field.

“They do have emotions, of course, and they might be anxious before games, just like any of us, but they’re able to really put it in perspective,” Ela said. “They’re able to see the anxiety as probably excitement that they want to do well and that it’s motivating for them, as opposed to something that can hold them back.”

For adults dealing with young athletes, Ela recommended being patient and consistently asking how they are doing. Their demanding schedules, filled with practices and competitions, may not be as easy for them to handle. When someone is going through an injury, practicing mindfulness strategies and avoiding negative self-talk will keep the recovery process on track.

Advertisement

The key, Ela said, is to talk about it.

“I think a lot of people still feel that they want to white-knuckle through this, or that it’s going to get better magically on its own,” he said. “The truth of the matter is it can get better, and there is a lot of help available, but you have to work at it, and you have to find support when you need it, and that’s a good thing.”

The most important thing for anybody, not just athletes, to understand is that they are not alone when struggling with mental health. Ela said the hope is they have a trusted friend or someone they can depend on to talk to. If not, getting help from a professional or calling a crisis hotline are options if they don’t feel safe talking to anyone.

“Athletes struggle with mental health concerns. We all struggle with mental health concerns,” Ela said. “It’s important that people know that they’re not alone, and to know that there’s help available, that no one has to go through mental health challenges alone.”

If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.

Advertisement

Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

© 2026 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.





Source link

Advertisement

Washington, D.C

This internet-famous bagel shop hit DC and the line went around the block

Published

on

This internet-famous bagel shop hit DC and the line went around the block


It’s a bagel that has achieved almost rockstar status. PopUp Bagels has taken social media by storm, and you can now get them in D.C.

The grand opening of the new location in Georgetown on Friday was quite the event. A line of bagel fans went out of the store, up Wisconsin Avenue NW and onto M Street. Someone tossed bagels out of the shop’s upper window to those eagerly awaiting below.

So, what makes these bagels different? It’s the way you eat them.

You don’t cut a PopUp bagel. You take the hot bagel, grip it, rip it and dip it into a schmear.  

Advertisement

“It’s like chips and dip. You can’t go wrong,” one visitor told News4.

There are going to be 40 pop-up bagel shops around the country by the end of May.



Source link

Continue Reading

Washington, D.C

Grandmother speaks out after young boy, friend hit by man on dirt bike in DC

Published

on

Grandmother speaks out after young boy, friend hit by man on dirt bike in DC


A grandmother is speaking out after a man on a dirt bike hit her grandson and sped off, leaving the 10-year-old boy with serious injuries. 

D.C. police are hoping surveillance video helps identify the suspect. Now, that grandmother is pleading for the suspect to turn himself in to police.

Advertisement

What happened :

D.C. police are searching for the driver of the dirt bike that hit two children and fled the scene just before 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 4.

Officers responded to the intersection of 14th Street and Chapin Street, Northwest, for the report of a crash. 

Advertisement

When they arrived, police found the two boys, both injured by the dirt bike rider as they rode an e-bike in the bike lane. 

DC Fire and EMS responded to the scene and took one of the children, who was unconscious, to an area hospital for treatment of serious injuries. 

Advertisement

The second injured child was treated on scene for minor injuries.

Police say the dirt bike operator lifted the bike onto its back wheel just before the collision, and then the driver fled the scene, continuing northbound on 14th Street with a large group of ATVs and dirt bikes.

Hoping for justice:

Advertisement

 The grandmother of one of the boys who was hit is outraged over the teens illegally riding dirt bikes and ATVs on the streets of D.C. 

She says her grandson, 10-year-old Johari Alford and his friend were at a birthday party when they decided to go outside and ride scooters.

Advertisement

That’s when police say the guy crashed into them.

Surveillance video shows a large group illegally riding on the ATVs and dirt bikes.

Officers responded to the scene, finding Johari suffering with serious injuries to his head, spinal cord, arm, and face.

Advertisement

When asked about his condition, Johari’s grandmother, Karyn Alford, said he doesn’t understand what’s going on. 

He’s asking questions. He’s wondering why this is happening to him.

Advertisement

What do you say to the man who hit Johari and his friend and kept on going?

I want to say you need to have a heart. You need to know that you rolled over my grandson like he was a piece of trash and didn’t care you were out there acting like hooligans in the middle of the street where people pay taxes, and my grandson was affected. So you need to turn yourself in,” Karyn Alford said. 

Johari’s friend was left with minor injuries and is expected to be ok, but it will take Johari several months to fully recover.

Advertisement

What you can do:

Police are offering a reward of up to $1,000 to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest and indictment. 

Advertisement
NewsWashington, D.C.D.C. Crime



Source link

Continue Reading

Washington, D.C

D.C.’s speed cameras are catching super violators. Most have Va. and Md. tags.

Published

on

D.C.’s speed cameras are catching super violators. Most have Va. and Md. tags.


An Audi with Maryland tags and 891 tickets in D.C. amounting to $259,214 in unpaid fines remains on the streets, with 18 speeding violations in the nation’s capital just this month. A Hyundai registered in Virginia racked up 689 tickets in the city.

Even as the District’s traffic cameras have multiplied and inspired copycats in other cities, city officials have struggled to get repeat offenders who were caught by that system off the street, particularly those whose vehicles are registered outside the nation’s capital. That may change, though, after high-level conversations among local officials prompted legislation in Virginia and Maryland that would allow cross-border cooperation on the issue.

A data analysis by The Washington Post shows what’s at stake – millions of dollars and the increased public safety that comes with an ability to punish drivers going over 100 mph on residential streets.

Advertisement

Most people who get a speeding ticket in the District never get one again, officials say, and speeds go down in areas where cameras have been placed. But city records show hundreds of people speed again and again in the same locations with little consequence, with the camera installed to prevent such behavior documenting each new violation.

One vehicle with a Maryland license plate got 182 tickets in a single year on an eight-block stretch of Alabama Avenue in Southeast Washington. In the northeastern part of the city, another vehicle with Maryland tags was issued 109 tickets in a year, just where a camera was located at 1400 Bladensburg Rd. A car with Virginia plates got 556 tickets in 12 months, more than any other vehicle in that time frame; it was towed when the fines owed reached $292,780 late last year.

Data analyzed by The Post shows that from 2018 through 2025, more than 80 percent of tickets were issued to people who exceeded the posted speed limit by 11 to 15 mph. The worst offenders – those who exceed the speed limit by at least 30 mph – make up less than 1 percent.

But the more excessive speeders contributed to about 30 percent of all fatal crashes since 2019, D.C. data shows.

The biggest obstacle to better enforcement in the city is that most violators live in Maryland or Virginia. Of the 103 vehicles with the most tickets in fiscal 2025, 67 have Virginia plates, 25 have Maryland plates, and 3 have D.C. plates. Of the 100 top speeds registered by cameras in the past two years, 37 of the vehicles involved had Virginia plates, 35 carried Maryland plates, and 13 featured D.C. plates.

Advertisement

Neither of those states penalize their residents for citations issued by cameras in another jurisdiction. That could change soon. D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) spoke recently to the governors of Maryland and Virginia about enforcement across state lines. Both states’ legislatures are working on bills to make it possible.

It’s a “new step forward,” a spokesman for Bowser said.

The District has also begun suing drivers from across the border over unpaid tickets, a power that Attorney General Brian Schwalb (D) got last year from legislation written by D.C. Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6). Schwalb’s office has won judgments or settlements against 15 drivers from Maryland and Virginia that total $608,292, though the vast majority of that money has yet to be claimed.

One of the lawsuits is against the owner of a Honda CRV caught going 151 mph off Interstate 695 onto South Capitol Street on Feb. 16, 2024, according to city data. The vehicle’s owner, Kylie Ann Sullivan of Fredericksburg, Virginia, has failed to pay 197 citations, according to Schwalb’s office. She said in a letter to the court that her ex-boyfriend was “the one behind the wheel for more than 98 percent of these offenses” and that she has not driven since he totaled the SUV three months after that high-speed drive. “I would also like to stress that no one was ever injured or harmed as a result of any of these incidents,” she added. Her case is pending.

Four of the 100 vehicles that accrued the most D.C. speeding tickets in the 2024 fiscal year belong to people sued by the city over unpaid fines. All of the owners either declined to comment or could not be reached. One owner, Chanel Laguna of Falls Church, Virginia, accrued 168 tickets that year through one of the six license plates the city identified as being registered to her; altogether she has been issued 345 citations. Laguna wrote in a court filing that she was not responsible for all of the tickets because she shared two vehicles with other people, including an Uber driver. She said both those vehicles have since been taken to an impound lot.

Advertisement

Clark Mercer, who was chief of staff to former Virginia governor Ralph Northam, said he was alerted to the problem of cross-border ticket enforcement only when leaving that office in 2022.

“I said, ‘We can’t effectuate anything; we’re literally packing up. I wish I had known about this earlier,’” Mercer recalled. He is now in charge of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, a regional planning group, and has been pushing for action.

Mercer said he learned that one way drivers evaded responsibility for camera tickets was by getting tags from Virginia, which allows non residents to register vehicles there: About 14,000 D.C. drivers have Virginia tags. More than half of the drivers being sued by Schwalb’s office have a collection of both Maryland and Virginia license plates.

Out-of-state tags also are an issue in Baltimore. An analysis found that six of the 10 vehicles with the most tickets for speeding in school zones had Virginia tags. About 100,000 Maryland drivers have Virginia tags, data reviewed by The Post shows. Along with ticket enforcement legislation, Maryland lawmakers are working to make it easier to flag and penalize residents with out-of-state tags.

Both Maryland and Virginia have an incentive to cooperate with D.C. as they expand their own camera enforcement programs.

Advertisement

“The stars are starting to align to get this done,” Mercer said. “We’re moving in a very positive direction.”

Cars can also be stolen or the tags forged. Tanyeka Brown of Temple Hills, Maryland, said her Nissan Maxima was caught repeatedly on traffic cameras on Bladensburg Road. The vehicle was stolen from outside her house in December, she said, and after that “I was getting tickets every day, at least 10 of them.” Brown said her car was found in a tow lot last March, “damaged to the point that I couldn’t even drive it.”

The District now has a law automatically dismissing tickets when someone reports a vehicle as stolen so that they don’t have to challenge each ticket in court, but it applies only to D.C. residents. Non-D. C. residents must still contest those violations before a judge.

For now, D.C. can seize out-of-state vehicles only if they are parked on the street in the city. That doesn’t always happen. The Maryland Audi got a parking ticket in February in Northeast Washington but wasn’t towed.

Advertisement

The Department of Public Works has said that 2,000 vehicles were impounded last year, including 556 vehicles with more than $2,000 owed, but that to tow more requires more staff and equipment. Advocates say the real problem is a lack of urgency.

“A 4,000-pound machine driven repeatedly at reckless speed by someone who has shown that they will not stop is absolutely no different from someone with an AK-47,” Karthik Balasubramanian of the group D.C. Families for Safe Streets said at a recent public hearing. “If there was such a person who was roaming the District with an AK-47 randomly shooting … we would mobilize all available resources to separate that person from their weapon and let them get the help that they need. Why are we not doing the same with the dangerous drivers who are abusing their own weapons?”

The District still has by far the most automated enforcement in the region: About 3.3 million camera tickets were issued in 2025, according to city data.

The number of tickets issued each year has steadily climbed, after dropping at the start of the covid pandemic. Starting in 2023, more than $150 million in speeding tickets have been issued each year, with 2025 hitting more than $257 million, the most since before the pandemic.

Studies have found that traffic cameras can reduce crashes significantly. But “the cameras only go so far for the most egregious drivers,” said Sharon Kershbaum, director of the D.C. Department of Transportation Director. “And those are the same ones who are going to be causing the fatal crash.”

Advertisement

After rising for years, traffic fatalities fell dramatically last year, from 52 in 2024 to 25, according to data from D.C. police. But they remain about as high as they were a decade ago, when Bowser made a commitment to end traffic deaths by 2025. There have been 12 deaths on city roads so far this year.

Meanwhile, some House Republicans have threatened to eliminate D.C.’s speed-camera program, arguing it is unfair to drivers. The White House has indicated it might support such a GOP proposal.



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending