Simone Biles, Mental Health & Teamwork

I’m sure that if you’ve been on the internet you’ve probably seen this cartoon (as well as edits.) Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, I had the burning urge to make a response to this so here we go.

Note: this is an opinion, not intended to be any sort of scholarly anything, however I will be giving some sources.

My reaction to the Simone Biles situation

I’ll be honest, I was somewhat disappointed with how she reacted with this. I completely understand that there’s a lot of pressure and it will invariably cause mental health issues. However I find it increasingly difficult to believe that there are no services available for her to effectively and safely deal with the pressure and issues that she faced during that time. I’m not someone who’s a complete hardass, I can completely understand why she felt this way and can emphathize with it being incredibly difficult and exhausting.

Working as a team

In athletics and many other team situations, you work together and take care of each other. You have their backs and they have yours. You’re all there for each other because you know that that’s what it takes to succeed and excel. That’s why Simone’s “mental health break” was an issue with me, as I’ve previously mentioned, I can fully understand why she did that but I’m still very disappointed she did. It’s also revealed that she was dealing with some family issues ^{1 2} which adds some extra nuance that wasn’t previously revealed. Still, it would’ve been a much more meaningful and important story if she would’ve not dipped out. Sending a message that “you should just quit rather than gritting your teeth and handling it” is not a good message to be sending to basically anyone, especially elite athletes. She also could’ve highlighted the glaring issue of how mental health is viewed in the black community. They’re more likely to see it as a weakness or just calling it “stress” or “being tired” rather than mental health ^{3 4}

Research suggests that the adult Black community is 20% more likely to experience serious mental health problems, such as Major Depressive Disorder or Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Additionally, Black emerging adults (ages 18-25) also experience higher rates of mental health problems and lower rates of mental health service utilization compared to White emerging adults, and older Black adults. Despite progress in recent years, there is still a significant stigma associated with mental health concerns. In the Black community, there is often difficulty acknowledging psychological difficulties, but useful strategies including religious coping and methods such as pastoral guidance and prayer often are the most preferred coping mechanism. These ideas often lead people to believe that a mental health condition is a personal weakness due to negative stereotypes of instability and attitudes of rejection. Because of this lack of information about mental health issues in the Black community, it is not always clear when one may need it or where to find help. ³ Such nuanced descriptions for depression and other mental illnesses that the Black community adopted and passed on from generation to generation led to underestimating the effects and impact of mental health conditions. Also, it strengthened beliefs that a psychiatric disorder is a personal weakness. Crawford explained that “all these factors created a culture that is fearful and uninformed about mental illness.” ⁴

That’s a problem that’s close to her that she could’ve addressed yet didn’t for some reason, a problem which has been well documented ^{5 6} and is undeniably an issue. Ultimately, I’m disappointed not only for the message she sent, but missed opportunity to address an important issue.