Simone Biles, Mental Health, and Courage

Simone Biles is strong.

Strength is being able to say you can’t.

Strength is working your whole life for something, dedicating yourself entirely for two decades, and being able to step back and cheer on your teammates.

Strength is feeling the weight of a country on your shoulders, and being able to see clearly that it’s not your duty to carry it if it will break you.

Strength is being able to see through the oppressive cloud of other people’s expectations, and doing what your body and mind are saying you need to do.

If Simone Biles convinces even one young kid watching her that it’s ok to say, “I can’t,” and prioritize their mental health, that will be more valuable to this country than any gold medals she could earn.

America has enough Gold medals.

We need more Simone Biles.

Facebook post by Leland Michael

  

Courage, Tenacity, and Grit

What it takes to stand up for Mental

Health, Thank You, Wise Simone Biles

Poem by Dreaming Ace

Simone Biles has shown tenacity, grit, and courage again and again over the course of her career and this week at the Olympics was no different. She realized that clinging by the skin of her teeth to her mental health and pushing through would not best serve her or her team. 

There have been a number of articles pointing out the importance of Simone Biles being able to create the space she needs in order to protect her mental health. 

(Note: All the quotes in this blog post are a sampling of quotes from throughout the articles listed, while I tried to maintain the context of the quotes, the block text are not single direct quotes)

Biles withdraws from gymnastics final to protect team (2021)

So rather than push through the doubts that crept into her head as she’s done so many times in the past, Biles decided enough was enough. She was done. For now.

Jordan Chiles, Sunisa Lee and Grace McCallum guided the U.S. to silver while Biles cheered from the sideline in a white sweatsuit, at peace with a decision that revealed a shift not only in Biles but perhaps the sport she’s redefined.

“We also have to focus on ourselves, because at the end of the day we’re human, too,” Biles said. “So, we have to protect our mind and our body, rather than just go out there and do what the world wants us to do.”

To Write Love On Her Arms posted on Facebook (2021):

Mental health is health. And every human—including an Olympic athlete—deserves to be able to prioritize caring for their mental health. Thank you Simone for setting this example on one of the world's biggest stages.

 

Many former gymnasts have come out to explain how serious the “twisties” can be to a gymnast's physical and mental health. Tokyo Olympics: Simone Biles has the terrifying 'twisties', NZ-based former US gymnastics champion says. (2021)

Simone didn’t withdraw due solely to an injury. She was assaulted by a sudden case of the “twisties”, a phenomenon peculiar to gymnasts

It can present itself in various ways, but the two most common are a loss of air sense while you are in the middle of a skill – a sensation not unlike vertigo – or the impulse to twist in the middle of a flipping skill.

There are many causes, but one of the most common is stress or PTSD, the symptoms of which Simone was starting to display over the last several days, not only in the way she overcooked her routines in the qualifying rounds, but also in her texts and Instagram messages.

She returned to the sport after retiring in 2016, not simply for the love of it, but to “be an active voice” against the abuse hundreds of gymnasts suffered at the hands of now jailed team doctor Larry Nassar.

To her mind, if she remained active, the governing body of gymnastics couldn’t sweep this tragedy under the rug. This is called service. And she’s the finest example of it.

So … withdrawing from the competition in the face of all that – our expectations, her sense of duty, the hubris of USA Gymnastics – was one of the bravest acts I’ve ever witnessed, and I’ll be frank, it left me in tears because of it. 

 

Mental health is a subject that we talk much more openly about than we did even a handful of years ago but we can always make more progress. There is a lot of junk that we all carry and all have to find ways to process and deal with. We all have struggled or know someone who has struggled with mental health.

There is a recent push by sports personalities to bring mental health to the forefront. 

Naomi Osaka: 'It's O.K. Not to Be O.K.' (2021)

It has become apparent to me that literally everyone either suffers from issues related to their mental health or knows someone who does. The number of messages I received from such a vast cross section of people confirms that. I think we can almost universally agree that each of us is a human being and subject to feelings and emotions.

I communicated that I wanted to skip press conferences at Roland Garros to exercise self-care and preservation of my mental health. I stand by that. Athletes are humans. Tennis is our privileged profession, and of course there are commitments off the court that coincide. But I can’t imagine another profession where a consistent attendance record (I have missed one press conference in my seven years on tour) would be so harshly scrutinized.

Perhaps we should give athletes the right to take a mental break from media scrutiny on a rare occasion without being subject to strict sanctions.

Michael Phelps launches new mental health campaign (2018)

Michael Phelps faced many dark moments in his career, despite his unprecedented success as an athlete. Even now the retired swimmer is going through challenging times. The American openly admitted that he considered suicide after his six-medal haul at London 2012.

But the 23-time Olympic champion wants to use his own experiences to support others suffering from mental health issues. He retired for a second time after Rio 2016, but says he still suffers from depression and anxiety.

"I do break down and maybe have a bad day, where I'm not in a good mental state," he told the Associated Press. “I understand that. It’s who I am. I guess that will always be something that’s a part of me.”

These mental health challenges effect sports players from across the sports spectrum and each has had a different response and a different way of sharing their story with the public.  

1. Michael Phelps (Swimming) – Ask for help.

“I struggled with anxiety and depression and questioned whether or not I wanted to be alive anymore. It was when I hit this low that I decided to reach out and ask for the help of a licensed therapist. This decision ultimately helped save my life. You don’t have to wait for things.” – @MichaelPhelps via Twitter (2019)

 

2. Aly Raisman (Gymnastics) – Healing is not linear.

“I’ve definitely had moments where I worried I’m always going to feel like this, but I’ve learned through therapy that I’m not going to feel like this forever. And so hopefully, the more I speak on it, the more people I can help. Even if I just help one person it was really worth it.” via People magazine

3. Andrew Luck (NFL) – Make the right decision for YOU.

“The only way forward for me is to remove myself from football and this cycle I’ve been in. I’ve come to the proverbial fork in the road, and I made a vow to myself that, if I ever did again, I would choose me.” – Andrew Luck, at a press conference on August 24, 2019

4. Ronda Rousey (UFC) – Mental illness is not a weakness.

“It’s not a weakness we should condemn. I’ve never shied away from talking about suicide or anything like that. It’s really heavily affected [my] family, and anything that I could do to make sure it affects as few people as possible; I’d be happy to do that. I do not see why it’s looked at as a bad thing.” via HuffPost

 

5. Abby Wambach (U.S. women’s national soccer team (USWNT) – Do not be ashamed.

“It’s really hard to talk about things when you’re ashamed. And I’m not ashamed about what happened to me anymore because it led me to where I’m at right now. I’m proud of where I’m at.” via Associated Press

6. DeMar DeRozan (NBA) – No one is indestructible.

“It’s one of them things that no matter how indestructible we look like we are, we’re all human at the end of the day. We all got feelings . . . all of that. Sometimes […] it gets the best of you, where times everything in the whole world’s on top of you.” via The Star

7. Kevin Love (NBA) – Everyone is going through something.

“Everyone is going through something that we can’t see. The thing is, because we can’t see it, we don’t know who’s going through what and we don’t know when and we don’t always know why. Mental health is an invisible thing, but it touches all of us at some point or another. It’s part of life.” via The Players’ Tribune

Simone Biles showed her inner strength and courage when she made the choice to step away from the women's team gymnastics event and the women's all around event. She knew herself better than anyone else and was able to stop before she pushed herself to a point where she could have been seriously injured. 

Simone Biles is part of a growing movement of sports professionals who are opening up about their mental health struggles. We need individuals from ever walk of life to be open about their mental health challenges. 

Simone Biles is showing great leadership and helping all those who were watching her have the opportunity to understand how important it is to take care of themselves even if that means stepping away from something that has been their dream for decades.  

Simone Biles we all, fans, sport casters, and athletes alike much say we see your courage, we see your tenacity, we see your grit, and we see your leadership and we say Thank You. Thank You for all you do and for all you are. I am assuming you understand how important what you did is but in case you have any doubt what you did is one of those moments that will be remembered for years to come and which will make the path for many others just a little easier.