There is a lot to unpack here.
- the term "mental health" is much different when being associated with a person having doubts about their performance and somebody being depressed or suicidal.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.