Simone Biles: Prioritizing Mental Health

There is a special feeling during the Olympics that is almost electric. It’s powerful to watch friends and foes who normally spend their days bickering with one another on social media over politics unite together as Americans to cheer on the U.S. teams. CNBC reports that nearly 20 million Americans tuned in to watch the Olympics this year. As you are probably well aware, it was quite a shock when one of America’s top athletes and Olympians, Simone Biles, withdrew from the Olympics for her mental health. Since then the world has been buzzing with questions about what this will do to our paradigm on mental health and athletes. Should Biles be celebrated for walking away from the world stage to focus on her mental wellbeing? What example is she setting? Here to help answer these questions and teach us more is clinical psychologist Catherine Athans.