Mental Health Matters: What We’ve Learned From Recent Athlete Conversations
Do you remember trying to explain a feeling but struggling to articulate exactly what it is, only to have your friend immediately understand what you are trying to say? What about stressing over a tough test but hearing your classmates say they thought it was hard too? When we open up and share about some of our more difficult days, it can lead to other people experiencing feelings similar to the ones created in those two situations - relief that your friend gets you, comfort knowing that it wasn’t just you who thought the test was hard. Slowly but surely, the stigma around mental health challenges is breaking, and athletes have played a critical role in normalizing this by boldly sharing their stories. Recently, several notable athletes have been vocal about their mental health, and we wanted to share some of the powerful lessons we can learn from their stories.
Above all, the biggest lesson from this article is that if you have experienced challenges with your mental health in the past or are currently in a difficult season, you are not alone (these amazing athletes have been there, too).
Content warning: This article mentions suicidal ideation and struggles with eating.
Lessons From: Hailey Van Lith
College basketball star Hailey Van Lith is proving to the world she is the real deal - with TCU’s win against Notre Dame in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament, she became the first player in college basketball history to make five straight Elite Eight appearances, and with three different teams. After TCU won their second-round game against Louisville, Hailey Van Lith openly shared about her mental health challenges in the past. She mentioned her early exposure to social media led to later struggles, saying, “When I was younger and in college, I was suicidal, I was heavily medicated, and I felt trapped. And you would never know because I was having a ton of success on the court, but internally, and in life in general, I was ready to be done”.
Lesson #1: This comment serves as an important reminder for us as sports fans- just because the athletes we see on the TV or our feeds seem to be living glamorous lives and happily achieving their goals doesn’t mean that is the reality. Therefore, we should be especially considerate of what we comment on and share about them.
She also spoke about how her faith helped her through that dark time, saying, “I’ve been praying all year, like God, I know you’ve given me this testimony to share it with the world and shed your light, and I think this is the year and this is the moment.”
Lesson #2: Finding a purpose amid the suffering (in Hailey’s case, sharing what she’s gone through as a testament to her belief in God’s power) is a compelling source of inspiration to keep going.
Lessons From: Jordan Chiles
Jordan Chiles is, of course, that girl. In addition to medaling at the Olympics and scoring multiple perfect 10s for the UCLA gymnastics team, she was named one of TIME Magazine’s 2025 Women of the Year in February and just released her memoir on March 4th, titled “I’m That Girl: Living the Power of My Dreams.” While she’s been thriving in the excitement of these times, she also has been open about her mental health struggles in the past. In her memoir, she included that she had previously struggled with suicidal thoughts and expanded on that in an interview with People on February 26th. She shared, “[Writing about] it was hard at first. But I’m happy that I was able to revisit those things and I’m happy now that people get to read it and understand, and hopefully that gives them the confidence to be like, ‘You know what? Maybe I need to talk about something [too].’”
Lesson #3: Confronting your struggles with mental health can be difficult and painful, but it can also be healing. Sometimes, situations feel overwhelming on the surface, but when you press in and assess them more closely, they can shrink to a more manageable size. In addition, talking and sharing your reality with others can be freeing, especially when you are reminded that you are not alone.
Jordan also wrote about experiencing verbal and emotional abuse from a former coach in the form of criticism of her body and eating habits, which led to her developing an unhealthy relationship with food. As for where she is now, she expressed this in the People interview: “It took me a while to really find the love of food. Now, I’ve started putting myself in that mindset of understanding that it’s okay to give yourself a cheat meal. This was a trauma, and I’m happy that I’m moving past it. I know that it’s healthy to eat and it’s healthy for my body”.
Lesson #4: It’s important to forgive yourself for how you handled things in the past, especially when handling things that were done to you. We can’t go back and change the past, but we can choose how we move forward in the present. As Jordan notes, being accepting of your struggles coming from past trauma but taking steps to grow positively and adjust your perspective will ultimately lead to greater emotional wellbeing.
Lessons From: Chloe Kim
Chloe Kim continues to dominate the snowboarding world - on Saturday, March 29th, she won her third world championship in snowboard halfpipe and officially earned her spot on the 2026 Olympic team. While this accomplishment isn’t anything new to her, she has commented on how she has found a new sense of joy and fun in competition, which had been notably absent. In an interview with Olympics.com two weeks ago, she elaborated, “I think that I always stressed myself out because I thought that winning was the only thing that brought value to my life. So I just put everything to the side and made a list of things that made me valuable and made me worthy of being happy. And I think that has also really contributed to my happiness.”
Lesson #5: You are more than your sport, your work, your art, or whatever activity you dedicate your time to. It’s essential to remember that your self-worth is not dependent on your performance. You are deserving of happiness simply because you exist, and it matters more what kind of person you are than how much you achieve. In Chloe’s case she listed facts like “I’m an amazing daughter and sister” “I’m a good friend”, “I really care about others” as reasons why she is valuable and why she should be proud of who she is regardless of her snowboarding success.
In an ESPN interview from March 28th, right before winning the world championship, Chloe mentioned, “Every time something bad happened, I let it get to me. I was constantly angry and in a state of fear and incredibly depressed. It was scary. I went through a really dark time…I let this perfectionist side of me consume my life. I learned that although it's good to strive for perfection and acknowledge parts of yourself that could be better, it's also important to forgive yourself and learn from it, as opposed to letting it drown out all the positives."
Lesson #6: Chloe said it best: it’s not bad to seek improvement and success, but it can become bad when a lack of desirable results negatively affects your emotional and mental state. Giving yourself grace and space to grow is vital to maintaining your mental wellbeing.
Lessons From: Sydney Leroux
Olympic gold medalist and World Cup champion Sydney Leroux has been with the NWSL since 2013 and was thrilled to re-sign with Angel City FC through 2027 in October. However, she made the difficult decision to not begin the season with them on March 16th, instead announcing that she is stepping away from soccer for the time being in order to take care of her mental health. In her Instagram announcement posted on the 16th, Sydney elaborated, “I owe it to myself and my children to take a step back and take care of me.”
Lesson #7: Mental well-being is not something to just brush aside. If you are not in a healthy mental state, it takes a toll on your body and your life, and it’s important to recognize that. If the goal is to be the best version of yourself that you can be, for yourself and for others, then it is worthwhile to really take the time to evaluate where you are at mentally and make adjustments as needed.
Sydney also commented on the difficulty of admitting that you may need help. In a video posted on March 25th, she explained, “I’ve always believed that I could do it all and I can push through. And that’s how I’ve survived and how I’ve succeeded. But I’ve realized, just because you can carry the weight doesn’t mean it’s not too heavy.”
Lesson #8: You are not weak for realizing you need to address your mental health or ask for help. You don’t have to “suck it up” or try to prove anything by shouldering the burden alone. Having the courage to speak up and be vulnerable about where you are shown a different kind of strength - the strength to acknowledge that maybe you could push through the tough times as is, but you don’t have to. Because it is normal to need a little help sometimes!
If you or someone you know is struggling with their mental health, you can receive immediate support by texting or calling the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.