Getting over Gold: Athletes and Mental Health

People can inadvertently fall into a bad career by being good at something.<p>Take a goal oriented person with outstanding genomics for sport. Their binary decision tree of life is skewed in one direction by compliments and dopamine. They build up to the ultimate outcome to be an extrinsic release. The day comes for the ultimate test. The world watches for 30 seconds and moves on. Win or lose, the world doesn’t care the way they cared. The release never came — just silence (with no monetary reward).

Luc Longley, centre for Michael Jordan&#x27;s champion Chicago Bulls NBA team, went through something similar, and came out the other side.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.abc.net.au&#x2F;news&#x2F;2021-08-02&#x2F;luc-longleys-chicago-bulls-legacy&#x2F;100256414" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.abc.net.au&#x2F;news&#x2F;2021-08-02&#x2F;luc-longleys-chicago-...</a>

We are always pushed to competition, I did sailing when I was young, despite being 4 times national champ I didn&#x27;t really like competition (logistics, wait time), I just loved endless practice sessions, surfing&#x2F;waves&#x2F;wind sensations.<p>I&#x27;d have definitely exchanged all my trophies (that I gave to the club anyway) for just more practice and fun. I have that same spirit on my bike, no electronic, nothing, just enjoying the moment, pushing a bit occasionally. I don&#x27;t watch sport either, what&#x27;s the point watching other practicing it, once you know a sport?

Is this really generalizable to all nations? Or is it the US treatment and perspective in play?<p>US in general not being stellar in mental health, but also having a very specific cultural ground, it would surprise me if this had less to do with athleticism and more with not being adequately trained in having <i>robust</i> structures for meaning which can contextualize these deep-focus targets.<p>Many of what is described about gold medals or competition in general can be applied to extreme career or monetary focus too.<p>Besides, US is the land of modern superhero myths with intense projections on any avatar that can be worshipped as one. That can be a projection too much for most real people to bear. They simply can’t shoulder the lack in an entire nation’s “meaning” needs. Blind leading the blind, we devour what we want to worship because they can’t get us out of this mess either.<p>With Biles it was a bit different but also not, she had been on prescription amphetamines with medical use exemption, but they are completely banned in Japan so she had to be off this time. It is not up to me to question the particular diagnosis but even a slight misdosing can be very performance enhancing for amphetamines; this is a territory that should be very familiar to some US programmers or college students.<p>Nonetheless the effects of intense, and maybe unearned, hero projections was again we getting lost in finding our way to human excellence.

So let&#x27;s recap:<p>Olympics:<p>- forces countries to invest in infrastructure, opening chance for corrupt governments to siphon money easily<p>- incentivizes countries to treat humans like animals and train them since birth (in some cases separating them from their families)<p>- countries &#x27;dump&#x27; athletes right after they peak, few of them give them the support they need to survive with their highly tuned skills but with low demand<p>- athletes don&#x27;t get a single dime (unless they win and depends on their country), yet ads and ticket sales flow<p>- allows coaches to have complete power over little kids, leading to abuse (mental&#x2F;physical&#x2F;sexual)<p>Why don&#x27;t we keep the Olympics at a single place (i.e. Greece) let them have the tourist revenue and we avoid having to build facilities all over the world every 4 years. Let&#x27;s invest that money on the people that actually make the event what it is. Let&#x27;s give medals to countries that take care of their own. It is hard for me to not think of the Olympics as some vestige of the cold war. We could do better. The recent supreme court case involving the NCAA might be a sign that athletes can recoup some agency, so that is motivating.

This clause stuck out for me: &quot;he would recognize and get help for his own depression.&quot;<p>I don&#x27;t know if anyone watches Ted Lasso, but in Season Two, they bring in a sports psychologist. No spoilers here.<p>He talks about never showing vulnerability and the destructive effects of that. But also: &quot;Everything in life is a skill, and you’ve got to learn when to use it and when not to use it.&quot; Bingo.<p>Any sports trainer who doesn&#x27;t force his or her way past the athlete&#x27;s reflexive &quot;I&#x27;m fine; I don&#x27;t need any help.&quot; is guilty of malpractice, IMHO. Looking after their mental health is just as important as looking after their cardiovascular fitness.

I was satisfied to see him acknowledge the same pressures in other high-stakes jobs. During the 3&#x2F;4 year period when I was completely committed to my startup I felt the most kinship with actors, directors, athletes and not other engineers&#x2F;makers.<p>Likewise, the same bereavement affected me when I got off the merry-go-round a few years ago, maybe more than I realised at the time. It&#x27;s very hard not to have that one mission as the answer to who you are. Can anyone share good resources for dealing with the emotional wind down that comes after a long period of single-minded dedication?

This makes me think of Bobby Fischer, who after becoming World Chess Champion, refused to defend his title in 1975 and afterwards did not play a competitive game in public for nearly 20 years.

In the same theme, there’s a recent documentary called “The Weight of Gold”, narrated by Michael Phelps and other Olympic champions. Really poignant stories.

Maybe we haven&#x27;t come that far from Roman Coliseum days and are basically still throwing people to the lions after they start to bore us with their performances.

The Olympics sure sucks..low pay and a major toll on mental health.