I keep finding mental health messages in the world of sports. Athletes have been speaking out and putting themselves in the forefront of mental health awareness. The other day I saw yet another example.
I am a women’s basketball fan. I was checking the box score from a WNBA game. In the list of players, it showed the players who had not played and the reason why. There were two players who had not entered the game for one of the teams. Next to the name of one player it said knee injury. It was the other player who caught my attention. Next to her name it said mental health.
My first thought was “Wow, I’ve never seen that before.” It was brave. Here was a professional athlete stating that the reason she could not play was her mental health. I don’t think we would have seen that a few years ago, but in recent years athletes have spoken up about mental health. They have normalized taking time to care for our mental health needs.
As I see an athlete stating that she was not able to play due to her mental health, I think about all the times I felt I had to hide my struggles with mental health in the workplace. There were many times when I claimed to have a cold or the flu when in fact depression was preventing me from working. I knew I couldn’t just say that I was struggling with my mental health. It would have been frowned upon and possibly mocked by my administrator. There was no sense of understanding in the workplace for me. So, many others have had similar experiences. Mental illnesses are often not seen as legitimate illnesses by employers. These illnesses are viewed as weaknesses by many.
Depression caused me to take medical leaves on a few occasions, but I kept the reason for the leaves to myself. I was unwilling to face the possible ridicule that I feared came with saying I had depression. I shouldn’t have had to be afraid. I should have been able to say I have a mental illness, and it be considered a legitimate illness.
My experience is common. Many of us who live with mental illness are shamed into hiding our illness in the workplace. I wish I had had the courage of the basketball player who listed her reason for not playing as mental health. I would like to think that if I was working now, I would have that courage. I respect this player and the many athletes who are sharing their mental health experiences. They are making it more commonplace to speak about mental health. We need that. We should be able to say, “I need to take a day off to care for my mental health.”
I chose not to use this athlete’s name, but my guess is she would have been okay with me writing her name. I respect her willingness to be open about her mental health and wish her healing. I hope we will continue to see people in all areas finding the safety to acknowledge when they need to care for their mental health.
We learn a lot of lessons from the world of sport. Caring for our mental health is one of those lessons. It should be just as normal to take a day off for our mental health as it is for our physical health. If you need to care for your mental health, do it! You have a every right to put your mental health above your work.
