Highlighting experience, voice in sports
Recognize Mental Health Awareness Week 2022This May, ESPN highlights the stories of athletes, coaches and other sports figures who have experienced personal battles with mental health and who want to use the platform. them to openly discuss what happened next and what helped them.
These stories reflect a variety of themes and experiences, including living in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, living with anxiety, depression, coping with pressure in their respective sports, dealing with addiction, and more.
Olympic doubles taekwondo champion Jade Jones said she suffered from lockdown anxiety and was “not in a good shape” at the Tokyo Olympics last summer.
“I didn’t realize how much the lockdown had affected me,” says Jones. “I haven’t really talked about it yet because that’s not what I do. But I’ve struggled with a lot of anxiety about being locked up and have never really experienced it before. I’ve been petrified. when I got close to my family, thinking I was going to leave this deadly thing – just like everyone else. I was thinking too much about everything. That’s where it started.”
Seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton has spoken of his mental and emotional struggles, saying in a social media post in March that “it’s hard to stay positive in some days.”
Surrounding New Zealander speaking to ESPN’s Valkerie Baynes about her decline in mental health has made her appreciate the value of sharing your issues with your loved ones like how
Paralympic and triathlete Melissa Stockwell, BMX athlete Alise Willoughby and skateboarder Jordyn Barratt (pictured) discuss what to expect in the months following the Tokyo and Paralympic Games and how they deal with post-Olympic bouts of sadness.
Andy Lewis has a phrase tattooed on his left leg: Never Give Up. It’s not just a slogan; that’s the 38-year-old man’s way of life. He is a father, husband, amputee and Paralympic champion with ADHD. He’s also a business owner now, who nearly took his own life in front of a crooked stranger – who’s become friends – talking around.
From the struggles at school to the life in the military that took him away, from his decision to amputate his right leg to winning a gold medal in Rio, Lewis has never given up. Don’t call him superman.
For the ups and downs of UK football, the start of a new season is brimming with hope. But for some, the big start is just another reminder that their own dreams are over.
“My contract with Manchester United was coming to an end, I knew my time was up,” Demetri Mitchell told ESPN. “I knew it was coming, but when you get the news, it still hurts. I don’t think it will. [hard] because I already knew that my time was up, but when I was told, it was difficult.
“My lowest score was not knowing if I would play again. I was probably overthinking it and being a bit dramatic, but in my head I was thinking, ‘I’m going to play again, I’ll be fine, I’m the one. What? what if I can’t play?’ It was a very challenging time mentally for me. I try not to show it as much as possible but the people around me and the people around me. Those who are close to me are receptive and fortunately I have that support.”
New Zealand captain and opening header Sophie Devine talks about her mental health struggles, Naomi Osaka’s influence and what it’s like for Hove to face England.
Tom Dumoulin thought his career as a professional cyclist was over in January 2020 when he took a five-month hiatus from racing, citing the need to rest physically and mentally.
The Dutchman reveals why taking a break from elite sports to recover and walk his dog has helped him come back stronger and more motivated, which has led him to the Olympics Tokyo to win the second silver medal.
For former South Africa goalkeeper, Brighton Mhlongo, nothing can really go wrong when it comes to alcohol, and nothing that has turned him from a professional footballer to an addict Alcohol. However, he got out of it.
However, after a few years of sobriety, he now faces a new loss after he was shot in the face by what he calls a ’empty point, full force’ during practice, leading to his left eye lost vision function. Despite the news, Mhlongo told ESPN why he’s determined to continue on the path of mental health he’s spent so long searching for.
Athletes spend their days preparing their bodies for extreme exertion but Sunrisers Cricket’s Psycho-Social Team Leader Kate Green is trying to make them understand the importance of exercise. exercise their mental health. Working with Sunrisers Female Cricket Area Manager Danni Warren, the two women wanted to assert that prevention can be better than cure.
In this exclusive interview with Valkerie Baynes, the women explain that most girls don’t go through an academy system that supports their personal and professional growth in the same way as their peers. men and told ESPN what they’re doing to change that.
Joe Bryan can’t remember how he felt during the best moments of his career. He only recalls the two goals he netted against Brentford in the 2020 Championship playoff final, helping Fulham get promoted to the Premier League and earn £170m, through watching the highlights. Nor can he remember the emotions of scoring a feat against Manchester United for Bristol City in 2017.
But he can vividly recall those mid-game moments when he was overwhelmed with anxiety, and the feeling of wanting to run 100 miles just to be him in that moment. There are mornings when he wakes up “feeling like —“; those minutes are also alive. “I still question whether I have the right to play in my position, whether I’m good enough to be where I am,” he told ESPN. “I’m still questioning myself.”
When Stuart Meaker went through his divorce two years ago, he started talking to a therapist. Realizing that there was no quick fix when mental health problems arose, he resumed those sessions every few weeks, well beyond the initial three months or so that seemed to be the norm. standard when someone seeks help in a difficult life situation.
By that time, Meaker, the Sussex swimmer who had been honored on the fast track to England, had learned a lot about quick fixes.
“What a lot of people do when they’re going through a difficult life situation or a broken relationship is they put their whole heart into their work and their career, whatever it is, because it’s a great means of distraction,” Meaker told ESPNcricinfo.
During the time when the 2020 Formula 1 season was delayed, drivers used a variety of strategies to keep themselves busy. McLaren’s Lando Norris told ESPN’s Nate Saunders why he decided to use his platform to be open about his mental health and how he has unwittingly helped others.