By Alan Blinder — 2021
In making herself vulnerable, Naomi Osaka joined other noteworthy athletes in pushing a once-taboo subject into the open.
Read on www.nytimes.com
CLEAR ALL
Michael Phelps, the most decorated athlete in Olympic history with 28 medals, has acknowledged that after the 2012 games, his longtime depression was so overwhelming he thought about killing himself.
The bodies of lonely people are markedly different from the bodies of non-lonely people.
Often, disabled people have their disability treated, but they don’t have their emotional or spiritual needs addressed.
1
Look more closely and you’ll see.
2
In the documentary “The Weight of Gold,” Phelps presents a stark picture of the mental wear and tear Olympians endure.
Osaka’s mental health challenges are nothing new in her isolating sport. What is new is the acceptance she’ll face—and the paths back—if she takes a prolonged break.
In the past few weeks, my journey took an unexpected path but one that has taught me so much and helped me grow. I learned a couple of key lessons.
Through the size of her platform, however, and her decision to choose well-being over pursuit of a Grand Slam title, Osaka offers the promise of bringing mental health awareness—both inside and outside of sports—to an entirely new level.
Experts I spoke with for this story pointed to a couple of reasons professional athletes are particularly susceptible to mental health issues.
With the Olympics drawing to a close, many athletes will begin to turn their attention to a crucial yet daunting question: what’s next?