(Benjamin Blume/ CBC News) — The decision of U.S. Olympic gymnast Simone Biles to withdraw from the women’s team final to look after her mental health could go a long way toward dispelling stigmas around the issue in sports, experts said.
“There has always been, within the athletic world, the emphasis on appearing physically fit and appearing mentally fit,” Katy Kamkar, a clinical psychologist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, told CBC Sports on Tuesday. “And that can further perpetuate a kind of silent suffering and self-isolation.
“So the more we are able to have a very supportive, empathetic conversation that, same as goes with physical health problems, we are able to normalize the conversation.” (…)