Fighting Mental Health with Awareness, Acceptance, and Action
In the past few months, we have seen 3 of the world's best athletes have to miss some of the biggest events in their sports because of mental health issues. Sha'carri Richardson, Naomi Osaka, and Simone Biles have all missed major events in their sports because of mental health issues. Sha'carri Richardson used marijuana to deal with the pain of losing her mother during the Olympic trials. Richardson said that she smoked marijuana as a coping mechanism after a reporter - who she described as a complete stranger - told her that her biological mother had died. Naomi Osaka said that she needed to miss French Open press conferences to take care of herself mentally and to exercise self-care and preservation of her mental health. She received a world of backlash, and support, for her decision. Simone Biles is considered to be the greatest gymnast of all time, and she made the stunning decision to withdraw from the Olympics, acknowledging the tremendous pressure she had been faci...