The "back in the day" stuff is almost always nostalgic idealization rather than accurate rendering of how people actually lived. What has changed is the absolute shoddy way people treated others in mental health and "toughness" situations. I think of things like soldiers getting run before the firing squad as late as WWI for PTSD/Shell Shock or coaches in the 50s who thought not giving kids water made them tougher.
The water thing was dumb and I saw some kids go to the hospital from it. But Uni if you tell me your HS team in Wisconsin or college team (can't recall if you played college) wouldnt have ostracized you for bailing before or during a game because you were afraid of failing or losing, I'd have to say I don't believe you are being truthful. I also believe it's highly possible your coach wouldn't give you another chance and would've prepped the team with expectations you aren't playing because he couldn't trust you to not flake out again
Is she saying she had an episode of something? I thought I read she described it as having "the twisties," which is apparently the gymnastics version of "the yips." Now, there is no crime in not going. But I don't see why it is something no one can talk about or acknowledge, especially if it is being compared to physical well-being and we literally have injury reports. She doesn't deserve to be shamed or vilified, but I don't see why we can't critique a performance, or lack there of in the same way any sporting event is critiqued.
You are the one crying. In 2 threads. You drunk? I'll buy you a drink at the tailgate this year and we can hug it out. Which flavor zima?
Damn, that American dude on the third leg completely died the last 50 meters. The USA went from a solid lead to 4th. One gold, which was the most expected of all in Ledecky's 1500m, but no other wins. The Nashville swimmer got a medal, though.
Give me moar of your tears. You've got like 65 years of experience, I know those tear ducts of yours aren't done yet.
Can’t relate to at all? Almost everyone can relate to feeling nervous or anxious when speaking/performing in front of people. I get nervous before doing big presentations in front of people for work. Do I get to claim mental illness and just skip that now? No, because it’s part of the job. So I push through it, like almost everyone else in similar situations.
I guess I'm misunderstanding what you're criticizing then. I'm not aware of anybody saying it can't be acknowledged or talked about due to not being up-to-date on the situation, but the Lynch comparison still feels out of left field.
The mere fact that you can just "push through it" when somebody else says they can't and be befuddled by their inability kind of completely cements the "can't relate to" part. Edit: And to assume that your stress at a presentation at work is really a reason this person should've acted differently on global stage is completely silly. I think this very aptly depicts the reductive stance that's taken when mental health is talked about.
I'm now seeing over the top takes that make it out like she shouldn't even be on the team, so i am apparently only the caffeine free diet version of the truly spicy takes. i see it as no different than not being well conditioned. A knock, but also just a human thing. she got out prepared
is this mental health? that is the fundamental disconnect we have in this thread. it's mental. but are the yips or cold feet or whatever mental health? Was JG being a practice machine but game day bust mental health? i do not think all things mental are mental health. I am reading and open to being wrong. however, I think this does open the door quite wide in terms of how any performance can be judged.
Experiences are relative. How many times has Biles competed on this stage before? And how much time has she spent preparing to do so? Who’s to say that me presenting something in front of an entire division of my company for the first time isn’t more stressful? So where does the line get drawn with people not pushing through stuff? At what point does it go from “won’t/don’t want to” to “can’t?” How do we tell the difference? Mental toughness/resilience/grit have always been some of the biggest criteria weighed when discussing the best of the best athletes/competitors. Like IP has been saying, a lot of the responses to this situation don’t jive with that at all, and it’s weird.
What I’m hearing is all the people saying “LeBron is too afraid to take the final shot” now accepting him as the GOAT because taking the final shot leads to a lot of pressure, and mental health.
I feel like this gets down to a philosophical difference that leaves me on the side of, "we're just the sum of our parts". I do think it's fair criticism to talk about preparing one's self mentally, but I also don't think that's as well-understood as the conventionally-physical aspect of preparation, so it seems like complaining without caring for a solution.
Nobody said anything about being more or less stressful. Your experience has no bearing on hers, and you explicitly agreed with that with "Experiences are relative". We're not going to be able to tell the difference. I find it completely misanthropic to automatically assume someone's faking a condition without evidence. There's not really a reason to think this person is weak-willed, being deceitful, nor any other pejorative being desperately clung to on the Internet.
I am looking for a rubric. I can't say for certain that she failed to prepare, really. because how does one train better than experiencing top level competition like she has in the past? Also, I am not a psychiatrist nor can I muster the guts to do a flip unless there is deep water below me. but I wouldn't consider my lack of mental game to do a flip on a trampoline when I know I could physically do so a mental health thing. it is also possible that there is more to her situation and the twisties is just the extent she is willing to get into publicly. but ya, I am curious to see if this same thinking gets applied to football and basketball going forward. Can't get too mad a kickers who shank it. that's definitely mental.
my NBC local news says that Simone Biles, the greatest of all time, will not compete tomorrow and someone else will take her place. I counted, they repeated "greatest of all time" in reference to her 3 times in a 2 minute span. might it be nbc selling the olympics are her, the greatest of all time, would be a major factor in her mental state? reminds me of the pressure on Phelps, and how he went a little rogue for a bit in between two Olympics.
Is it misanthropic or just realistic to assume that, in general, people will take the easy way out when given the opportunity? Not saying, definitively, that's what Biles is doing here, but when speaking about people in general, there's no doubt in my mind this sort of thing would be easily taken advantage of by a lot of people.
