Anxiety and depression are real
Muse #133 - it should not be trivialized
It was sad to see the struggles of Naomi Osaka, a top women’s tennis player at the French Open. On one side you can see the kind of talent she represents but at the same time, shows that the person could have other sides where one could have a range of difficulties. Some things that they enjoy doing might come naturally to them and they might excel at it, and other things might be totally in the opposite spectrum. She was chastised for not being able to do the Press conferences after the matches and forced to do so or be fined for not doing them.
It was frustrating to read about how she was treated not only by the French Open authorities but also by the other Grand Slam events as well, who ended up grouping against her. Eventually, Naomi announced that she is leaving the French Open rather than face up to being forced to doing something that she did not enjoy doing.
But the incident brings to the fore the mental and psychological challenges that people face. Such high-profile events and conversations around it do help to bring these to the fore out in the open and help change happen or evolve over a period of time. Whether the change will come in time to help the current generation of those disenfranchised, we will have to wait and see.
Resources:
Naomi Osaka withdraws from French Open & reveals 'bouts of depression' - https://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/57310701