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Mental health vs wilting under pressure for athletes

Mental health issues are very real and it good when people acknowledge they have an issue an seek help for it.

In the context of sports, if a mental health issue is interfering with your ability to perform, it is the responsible thing to do to acknowledge that, even if it means not competing. Otherwise, it could jeopardize team performance or your personal safety.

HOWEVER: this does detract from your ability to perform in a sport and affects how your legacy will be judged. In other words, dealing with the pressure, both on and off the court/field/mat/track, is part of the job. And if you can't do that, for whatever reason, that means you aren't as good at your sport as maybe we thought.
 
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Don't conflate the 2. I don't think thats the reason she got the "twisties".
But it was just foul for someone to laugh at her being abused.

Well like I said earlier, those cowards wouldn't mock her to her face. If they did, I just wish the camera was on them when the do so the world can see what a-holes they ar.
 
Well like I said earlier, those cowards wouldn't mock her to her face. If they did, I just wish the camera was on them when the do so the world can see what a-holes they ar.
Like I've mentioned before, my issue isn't really with Biles at all. She choked and quit, which is far from ideal, but it happens. Maybe she really felt like she was going to hurt the team by continuing. I don't know that, and neither does anyone else, but whatever. But I do know she made sure to use the magic words so that she'd get a pass for it: "mental health".

My issue is more with those trying to make her out to be a hero for quitting. The media treatment has been something else. It's laughable. And then digging up every excuse in the book to justify her quitting. "Her mental health was at risk!!" "She was sexually abused 10 years ago!!!" Give me a break. She quit on her team. It's not something to celebrate.
 
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Like I've mentioned before, my issue isn't really with Biles at all. She choked and quit, which is far from ideal, but it happens. Maybe she really felt like she was going to hurt the team by continuing. I don't know that, and neither does anyone else, but whatever. But I do know she made sure to use the magic words so that she'd get a pass for it: "mental health".

My issue is more with those trying to make her out to be a hero for quitting. The media treatment has been something else. It's laughable. And then digging up every excuse in the book to justify her quitting. "Her mental health was at risk!!" "She was sexually abused 10 years ago!!!" Give me a break. She quit on her team. It's not something to celebrate.

Your issue is the media or those who make her out to be a hero for quitting by laughing about here being raped by a team doctor. I think you're more upset that people aren't demonizing her as you need to say she is a quitter....well then I must have missed you applauding her coming back last night. Funny how this little gymnast makes old men so upset....laughable. Maybe you can hold a Biles is a quitter party and tell everyone about all of your great accomplishments and how she is the downfall in society and whatever other BS you want to be spoon fed.
 
IMO, 1). if someone doesn't have a mental health issue or know someone close with one, perhaps wait until more experience is gained before making a strong judgment. IMO 2). to say SB had 'mental health' issues, especially if it was "twisties" all along, may have been the choice but perhaps an error as MH is very broad and easily misunderstood (see 1).
Just like one could not drive a vehicle if they were subject to dizzy spells or seizures frequently, one can't do gymnastics that involve somersaults and spins if disoriented.
Is 'twisties' itself a mental health issue? I don't know, but many physical health conditions and jobs can lead to or contribute to development of mental health issues e.g. PTSD, anxiety, panic attacks. People all have different chemistry. Some can handle more (stress for example) than others. I suspect quite a few board members here who are older have had the time and exposure to learn/experience MH disorders with close friends or family. Someone very close to me has MH issues that neighbors and acquaintances don't see, and trying to explain odd behavior can be very difficult. (see 1.) Yet, it is a challenge for us on a regular basis and Medicine can only do so much.
 
Mental health issues are very real and it good when people acknowledge they have an issue an seek help for it.

In the context of sports, if a mental health issue is interfering with your ability to perform, it is the responsible thing to do to acknowledge that, even if it means not competing. Otherwise, it could jeopardize team performance or your personal safety.

HOWEVER: this does detract from your ability to perform in a sport and affects how your legacy will be judged. In other words, dealing with the pressure, both on and off the court/field/mat/track, is part of the job. And if you can't do that, for whatever reason, that means you aren't as good at your sport as maybe we thought.
An interesting contrast that relates to mental health is Simone compared to Suni Lee, who rose to the occasion, competed in every event and won a gold medal. Lee had tons of family and community support as witnessed by the hundreds of cheering people on TV frequently. She was close to her parents and and had a tremendous support system. Simone was orphaned by her mother and raised by a grandparent. You never hear anything about Simone's relatives or family support. She seems to be all alone without any real support system.

We might learn from this that a strong support system (especially family) is crucial to good mental health and avoiding anxiety and other problems. I think this illustrates why mental health seems to be more of a problem today than in the past. Too many people are without close family support. Also, people seem more prone to move away of their place or origin and become "Lone Rangers" trying to face life's problems all by themselves.
 
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An interesting contrast that relates to mental health is Simone compared to Suni Lee, who rose to the occasion, competed in every event and won a gold medal. Lee had tons of family and community support as witnessed by the hundreds of cheering people on TV frequently. She was close to her parents and and had a tremendous support system. Simone was orphaned by her mother and raised by a grandparent. You never hear anything about Simone's relatives or family support. She seems to be all alone without any real support system.

We might learn from this that a strong support system (especially family) is crucial to good mental health and avoiding anxiety and other problems.
I did not know that about Simone.
 
IMO, 1). if someone doesn't have a mental health issue or know someone close with one, perhaps wait until more experience is gained before making a strong judgment. IMO 2). to say SB had 'mental health' issues, especially if it was "twisties" all along, may have been the choice but perhaps an error as MH is very broad and easily misunderstood (see 1).
Just like one could not drive a vehicle if they were subject to dizzy spells or seizures frequently, one can't do gymnastics that involve somersaults and spins if disoriented.
Is 'twisties' itself a mental health issue? I don't know, but many physical health conditions and jobs can lead to or contribute to development of mental health issues e.g. PTSD, anxiety, panic attacks. People all have different chemistry. Some can handle more (stress for example) than others. I suspect quite a few board members here who are older have had the time and exposure to learn/experience MH disorders with close friends or family. Someone very close to me has MH issues that neighbors and acquaintances don't see, and trying to explain odd behavior can be very difficult. (see 1.) Yet, it is a challenge for us on a regular basis and Medicine can only do so much.
It just seems a little convenient that the “twisties” came out a couple of days later after her PR person had a chance to figure out how to spin it. Why didn’t she just say that at the press conference? It’s obviously a well know gymnast term, so it shouldn’t have been foreign to her. Instead she shrugged it off by saying it’s just a sport.
 
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There is a lot to unpack here.

  1. the term "mental health" is much different when being associated with a person having doubts about their performance and somebody being depressed or suicidal.
  2. I believe these terms are conflated when you associate them with a pro-tennis player who doesn't like to get in front of cameras or a gymnast that doubts her performance enough to feel she may injure herself versus someone who can't get out of bed in the morning and is self-abusive.
  3. An athlete's "mental health" is part of the game. Much of mental health is overcoming physical/mental limitations: making that last sprint, spending another half hour running routes, pushing yourself to make that last bench press, when others wouldn't or couldn't. It is also hitting that free throw at crunch time.
  4. It is not well known that Babe Ruth owned the strikeout record as well as HR record. Michael Jordan, in interviews, said that he's missed the big shot as many times as he's made it. Gretzky said that you don't make shots you never take. My point here is that the best athletes always look up, not down. You always see the glass half full. You suppress fear of failure. And that is simply having the mental toughness to overcome fear.
  5. Fact is, controlled fear of failure is what fuels preparation. There are two regrets, the regret of losing, which doesn't last very long because you come to realize the other person was just better and tip you cap to them. And the second regret is the regret of not preparing properly which lasts a lifetime. It is your fault.
  6. Suppressing fear of failure is simply part of mental toughness. It is part of the game. You take and make that shot. I am sure there are those athletes that do become depressed. I believe a reliever committed suicide after giving up a game winning home run in the payoffs (several years after and this may or may not have been associated).
My conclusion is that "mental health" in this case is cheapening the real issue and for those who really suffer from such things. And it is impossible to tell, from the outside, if SB or Kevin Love is really having mental health problems or just having fear of failure. To me, it sounds like an excuse when that person has choked. I golf, they call it "the yips". At my age, I now see life as a journey. losing is part of the journey because it fuels you to get better. Losing isn't bad when properly focused. JVP always said that you improve the most after a loss. And as a fan, I don't care if they are having mental health problems or pulled a muscle. Either way, they aren't 100% and aren't competing and aren't winning. I wish nothing but the best for kevin love and Simone Biles. But to me, not having the mental toughness to overcome fear of failure is no different than not being able to run that last sprint or not being able to keep away from smoking dope. It comes down to mental and physical discipline.
As the OP here around Michael Phelps comments, your analysis is exactly what I was getting at. Using the words "mental health" to cover failure to perform under pressure is cheapening real mental health issues. When I was in HS, my best friend could run faster and throw a football farther and more accurately than every QB on our HS team. Essentially, he could have won a combine style competition against all of them. He had no interest in competing for the QB job, but the coaches kept trying to make it work. He looked the part, but he was a total failure at the role. The minute there were refs, a clock, a defense with pressure, keeping score, people watching.....he could not perform. The guys who won the job could perform. The difference was mental, but I never thought he had a "mental health" issue.

On the other hand, I had a grand mother who was hospitalized with severe mental health issues and required multiple treatments and drugs. I have a real problem excusing my friend's failures as "mental health" by that standard.
 
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