I'm a multiple-open-tabs-on-my-computer-desktop kind of girl. I try to go through all of them at least once a week to thin them out and, when I do, I often rediscover articles I've set aside to read for this feature. Today, my discovery was an article in The New Yorker about athletes and mental health, part of a larger retrospective looking back on 2021. I'm glad I found it today; since it's the end of January, I might be getting it in just under the wire.
I'm not an athlete but, as a former school counselor, I'm not only interested in mental health, but have spent a lot of my life advocating for it. It was interesting to read about the brave professionals who stepped out of their public persona to confess that it was all too much. In doing so, they perhaps opened a door for the rest of us to do the same.
It's been a hard almost-two years, and mental health (and the lack thereof) are more in the forefront now than at any other time I can remember. It's both gratifying and saddening that it took a pandemic, social media, and multiple role models for so many to understand that the hospitalizations, deaths, and persistent symptoms that brought the physical aspects of the pandemic into sharp relief aren't the only long-term effects of the coronavirus.
So many people are suffering in so many ways. One of the things I liked about The New Yorker article (besides the links to lighter 2021 fare) was that it didn't conclude with easy answers. The truth is, there aren't any easy answers. But, perhaps, a little kindness can help us begin to pave the way to long-term solutions.
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