Dancer Mental Health Matters More Than We Admit
What’s Real, What’s Risky, and What Needs to Change
Competitive dance can be one of the best parts of a teenager’s life.
It builds confidence, discipline, creativity, community, and joy. It can give a young person structure and belonging in a way few other activities can.
But it also comes with a reality the dance world still doesn’t talk about enough:
teen dancers are exposed to a unique set of mental health stressors — and many of them aren’t “just part of the sport.” They’re structural. They’re cultural. And they’re fixable.
After all, who hasn’t cried at or about dance?
But the bigger question is this: why do we accept that as normal?
Why do we treat anxiety, shame, burnout, fear, and emotional breakdowns as part of “building toughness” instead of a sign that something in the culture needs to change.
Mental health pressure in competitive dance is measurable
Dance combines a stack of “high-risk” factors for mental health strain — many of them happening at the exact same time:
constant performance evaluation
perfectionism and fear of mistakes
aesthetic expectations and body scrutiny
ranking, comparison, competition, and placement
pain normalization (“push through”)
high training volume
identity fusion (“dance is who I am”)
social comparison (especially online)
This overlaps with what research calls “aesthetic sports” — like dance, gymnastics, and figure skating — where appearance and performance are judged together.
A major review of the dance mental health literature found repeated negative outcomes including anxiety, stress, fatigue, eating disorder risk, and psychological trauma related to injury. That combination is not small. It adds up.
And it matters because adolescence is already one of the most psychologically vulnerable stages of life.
Eating disorders and disordered eating are a key risk area
Eating disorders have become the biggest “we can’t ignore this anymore” topic in dance mental health.
A widely cited meta-analysis found:
12% overall prevalence of eating disorders in dancers
16.4% prevalence in ballet dancers
This is a real mental health and medical risk.
In Canada, the reach of this issue is deeply concerning. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research notes that eating disorders affect about 1.4 million youth in Canada, and that only 25% receive appropriate treatment.
So if you’re thinking: “But my studio is positive.”
Great. That helps.
But even in positive studios, dancers still absorb culture, comparison, perfectionism, and fear of “falling behind.” Those messages travel fast.
Low energy availability and RED-S affect both the body and the mind
Here’s a dance-specific reality a lot of adults miss:
Some dancers develop serious health issues not because they’re trying to lose weight, but because they’re training hard and simply aren’t fueling enough.
This is called low energy availability, and it can lead to Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S).
The International Olympic Committee’s RED-S consensus statement emphasizes that RED-S includes psychological consequences, and that mental health concerns can both precede and result from RED-S.
In simple terms: when a teen dancer is under-fueled, it can show up like “mental health issues,” even when part of the driver is physiological:
irritability
anxiety
low mood
fatigue
brain fog / concentration issues
more injuries
slower recovery
So yes — some “mental health symptoms” in dancers are not only emotional.
They’re biological.
Anxiety and depression symptoms show up in dancer populations
Most dance mental health research focuses on older dancers (elite/professional), but it still gives us important signals.
A study on professional dancers found:
11.1% (female dancers) had at least moderate depressive symptoms
16% (female dancers) had at least moderate generalized anxiety
20.8% had at least moderate symptoms of depression, anxiety, or eating disorders
Professional dancers are not the same as teenagers — but the direction is clear:
pressure accumulates, coping worsens, and mental health symptoms rise as stakes rise.
Competitive dance stress isn’t just “nerves.” It’s identity pressure.
For many dancers, dance isn’t just something they do. It becomes who they are.
That identity fusion makes dancers especially vulnerable when:
they get injured
they stop improving
they don’t place
they feel replaced
puberty changes their body
they can’t control how they look anymore
they lose the “best dancer” label that used to protect their confidence
In competitive environments, those moments can feel less like disappointment and more like identity threat. The University of Alberta also explored the psychological environment of competitive dance — including stress and performance culture — in the context of dance as a sport-like arena.
Why adolescent dancers are uniquely vulnerable
Teens aren’t just “small adults.” Their brains are still developing in areas that impact:
emotional regulation
impulse control
identity formation
sensitivity to judgment
fear of rejection
belonging and peer approval
So, while an adult might hear criticism as “feedback,” a teen can experience the same moment as:
shame
rejection
fear of losing belonging
fear of being “less lovable” or “less valued”
This is why “toughening them up” isn’t mental health training. It’s just avoidance dressed up as discipline.
What healthy studios do differently (and it’s not complicated)
This is the good news. We don’t need to cancel competitive dance to protect mental health. We just need better standards.
1) Train teachers
This is the piece most studios skip — and it matters the most. Mental health in dance is complex, and it can’t be handled with good intentions alone. A studio can have an incredible competitive track record and still be unsafe.
Being a strong choreographer or dancer does not automatically mean someone is equipped to support adolescent development, recognize eating disorder risk, teach in a trauma-informed way, or create a psychologically safe environment. Leadership in dance is complex.
As a studio leader, you must treat teacher training as part of dancer safety: ongoing professional development should be expected, supported, and required, so every teacher understands the impact of their language and knows what to do when warning signs show up.
2) De-normalize pain and restriction
Studios should not treat the following as normal:
chronic pain
dizziness
skipped meals
weigh-ins
“earning food”
fear-based pressure around bodies
3) Teach fuelling and recovery as performance skills
Without turning studios into clinics, studios can normalize:
basic fueling education
hydration standards
rest as part of training
sleep as a performance tool
This is risk reduction, not “softness.”
4) Create psychologically safe teaching environments
A dancer should be able to ask:
“What am I doing wrong?”
“Why does this feel unsafe?”
“Can I modify this?”
…without social punishment, shame, or being labeled as difficult.
4) Make mental health supports visible and normal
Even a simple “resources” page on a studio website helps more than people realize:
crisis supports
eating disorder supports
youth mental health supports
Visibility reduces shame.
Signs a teen dancer might be struggling (that adults often miss)
Dance kids are often high-functioning — which means warning signs can look like “dedication” until they don’t.
Watch for:
obsessive training outside scheduled class
panic after missing one practice
extreme guilt after eating
rigid “good food / bad food” rules
isolation from friends outside dance
sudden drop in performance
injuries that don’t heal
constant self-criticism
intense fear of “being replaced”
Supporting adolescent dancer mental health starts in the studio
If the dance world wants to say it builds strong young people, we can’t ignore what young people are quietly carrying.
The goal isn’t to make dance less intense. The goal is to make it healthier.
That means making mental health part of the training, not something dancers are expected to “manage on their own.”
It means studios and teachers having better tools, parents having better language, and dancers having support that actually fits the reality of competitive dance.
Canada Dances supports dancer mental health
At Canada Dances, we believe dancer mental health deserves the same attention as training, technique, and performance. Competitive dance can be an incredible experience but it also comes with unique pressure that dancers and educators should not have to navigate alone.
We’re committed to supporting a healthier dance culture by sharing credible resources, amplifying important conversations, and helping dancers, parents, and teachers feel more informed and supported.
