Some people just don't 'get it'
...and it's not your responsibility to educate them
Last week, Japanese world #2 tennis star Naomi Osaka announced she would not be addressing the media in order to protect her mental health during the French Open. Osaka then said she was withdrawing from the event, writing on Twitter that she had been suffering from depression and would be taking some time away from the tennis court.
The Grand Slam organisers reacted to Osaka's move by releasing a joint statement that threatened the 23-year-old with potential disqualification and a ban from future tournaments should she not reconsider (plus, a $15,000 fine).
Despite being presented with a clear opportunity for the organisers to eschew tradition and contribute to new, more effective ways to support mental health, the chance for overall improvement in the system was squandered by everyone involved.
While I’m not here to speak to the landscape of the sports world, nor how sponsorship deals ‘work’, I am here to talk about what - in plain terms - Osaka did: be open about her mental health at work.
In recent years and especially during the pandemic, there has been much made of mental health. Although it’s largely simplified by relentless chants of #BeKind by people who wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire and “reach out for help if you need it” (hello??? Have you seen the waiting lists, lads?), it is undeniably a positive thing that mental health is becoming a frontrunner for conversations in 2021.
However, this recent tweet by Vanese Maddix spoke to me and had me thinking back to my time in agency when my mental health was on the floor and I was told I was unreliable because I took a sick day for my mental health and was honest about it. After this, I didn’t say another word until I finally left, spoke to my GP and was told I had suffered an unmanaged nervous breakdown.
Until mental health - and mental illness - is truly taken seriously by those in power, those who do not suffer and those who think we should just ‘get on with it’, we’re no further forward than we were when mental illness was a dirty phrase. No matter how many ‘awareness’ days we have, and how many ‘wellbeing’ away days from the office you implement, if you cannot actually do the work and support staff who are in crisis, or who need some extra flexibility or adjustments - there’s literally no point.
Even in freelance journalism groups I am a member of, I’ve seen other women saying things like: “Well, if she can play three rounds of tennis, she can jolly well do an interview!”. Babes, the two aren’t mutually exclusive. When I’m at my worst, I can easily smash a day of work in, calling strangers and doing my job well, even making them laugh. The idea of going to do something social though, even with people I love and trust, can have me feeling so panicked that it’s all I can do to apologise for my absence before putting my phone in a shoebox in the cupboard. By this commenter’s logic though, aren’t the two the same?
I’ve even seen someone - a woman - refer to Osaka as being “a little bit Harry”, by “cherry-picking” the bits of her job she wants to do. If by being a bit ‘Harry’, this person means protecting one’s mental health and dignity from a merciless, racist and sexist media....then yeah, sure.
Always one to stick his beak in where it’s not wanted, Pi*rs M*rgan said that Osaka shouldn't be a tennis player if she can't handle difficult questions. Hilarious. It’s almost like he's never stormed off his own TV set because he didn’t want to answer a difficult question about his obsessive bullying of a Black woman.
These are the kind of people who believe that if you are depressed, or anxious, you exist only to stay at home in the dark, not washing or speaking, i.e. ‘real’ depression. In reality, of course this is not what it looks like.
While the conversation around mental health is in flow, it is constantly being overwrought with people who think speaking up makes you a ‘snowflake’ or just think you should ‘carry on’ because this is ‘what you signed up for’. This week has unfortunately been a real sign that some people still don’t see anxiety and depression as serious health issues. They simply don’t get it.
No one should be afraid to be open at work about their mental health and risk being faced with further blockades, or worse - being punished. Until that changes across the board, we have to keep choosing our own wellbeing. If we don’t stand up for ourselves like Osaka, then who will?
We found out the gender of our baby! So exciting.
I’ve been nominated for a Freelance Writing Award this month! I’m so pleased and grateful for this, and so happy there’s something out there to recognise the work that freelancers do.
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