Tag: mental-health

Is Your Screen-time Diet a Pacifier?

The same parent that tries to discourage a child’s thumb or pacifier later hands their youngster a digital babysitter to keep the kid pacified or occupied. Yet, recent surveys show that 70% of America adults have concerns over how technology is affecting their own mental health, including their personal relationships. Other research finds that the average U.S. adult spends 70% less time with friends than they did two decades ago.                                                   

Nearly half of Americans report cutting back on screen time; 67% cut out digital cookies. Were these your New Year’s resolutions? 62% of American adults admit to digital-device addiction. What will this percentage be when today’s addicted-to-gadget toddlers reach adulthood?

American Academy of Pediatrics well-being guidelines for technology usage are not being followed from my observation of many children today:

  • Under 18 months – Zero screen time, unless video communication is with family and/or friends;
  • 18-24 months – May begin screen time co-viewing with a parent or caregiver;
  • 2-5 years — No more than 1 hour per day, limited to educational programming;
  • 6+ years – Limit screen time by setting limits and boundaries (using parental controls); avoid using screens as a pacifier or babysitter.

How difficult is it to turn off all screens during family meals and outings? Parents are role models in the usage of technology for their families. Do you use a digital device while you eat? I am always amazed when I see a couple in a restaurant, sitting across from one another, both ensconced on cell phones for long periods of time. I wonder why they are not relating to each other in the present moment. In addition to the practical uses of our cell phones, The Smartphone as a Pacifying Technology (in Journal of Consumer Research) outlines these emotional benefits: “feelings of psychological comfort and actual stress relief.”

There are many possibilities for stress relief. What hobbies have you pushed to the back shelf of your mind? Is it time to develop a new interest in your life?

Whether cell phone usage becomes addictive is an individual assessment. Psychotherapist Peter Levine defines addiction: “Addiction is people needing some way to blunt their pain, attempt to regulate; until people find an alternative, they will continue [their] addiction.” Perhaps we need the AMA (American Medical Association) to write a prescription for adult screen time.

Do you need a digital detox recipe? Here are some possibilities:

  • Make a “grocery” list of replacement ingredients to the pacifier of screen time.
  • Stir face-to-face social bonding into your week.                              
  • Blend mindfulness into your daily activities.  

If you choose to detox from too much screen time, you avoid a diet of information overload. Side-dish benefits include better sleep, better concentration, better physical and mental health, better creativity, and better relating with others. Who does not wish for things to be “better”?

Bake your cookies. 

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

363. Have you ever considered whether you are addicted to screen time?

364. What possibilities do you have to redeem your personal time, starting TODAY?  

Broaden-and-build Purls and Pearls

I cannot give away my grandmother’s crochet hook…yes, this is a scarcity mindset at work (see Pearls of Peace, 1-13-25). I am hooked on warm memories of my childhood hours in my grandparents’ home. I recall many hours that Grandma sat in her rocker, wearing her hand-sewn apron and dress, making one doily after another to gift the many females in her family and friend network. I never learned knit-and-purl stitches, but I watched with fascination as Grandma created with her crochet hook, building one stitch upon the next to broaden her handiwork. Handmade gift-giving was on her unofficial resume.  

Psychologist Barbara Frederickson created her broaden-and-build theory when she realized that there was a greater amount of research on negative emotions than positive emotions. For every positive emotion, there appear to be 3 negative ones! The reason for this disparity is that negative emotions are linked to our survival in big and small ways.

The broaden-and-build theory emphasizes that the expression of positive emotions can expand one’s repertoire of psychological, social, cognitive, and physical resources. Positiveness improves one’s resilience. It may help one’s coping skills. This approach is not meant to erase negative emotions but instead allows for the co-existence of both kinds of emotions.

A negative emotion is a protective signal that something does not “feel right.” When such emotions are brushed off, sometimes there could be dire consequences. The bodymind is a listening machine, always on lookout to protect one from physical and/or psychological harm. The idea with broaden-and-build theory is to make space for ALL emotions.

Expressing frustration in a trusted relationship is often necessary before gaining access to a more centered space where one can choose a positive action. The key is having an awareness of your positive emotions so that you can repair touchy situations. Building upon a growth mindset reminds one that others roll with negative emotions also.    

Here is a list of positive emotions that you can broaden-and-build for more resiliency. You probably do not need a list of negative emotions, as they seem ever-ready for action. However, you may miss out on positivity time if you do not have these positives tucked in your pocket for ready use:  

  • Admiration  
  • Affection
  • Altruism
  • Amusement
  • Anticipation
  • Awe
  • Cheerfulness
  • Confidence
  • Enjoyment
  • Enthusiasm
  • Euphoria
  • Gratitude
  • Happiness
  • Hope
  • Inspiration
  • Interest
  • Joy
  • Love
  • Optimism
  • Pride
  • Relief
  • Serenity
  • Surprise

Best of all, positive emotions are keep-on-giving gifts. I took interest in “crewel” (Welsh word for wool) embroidery when I was in graduate school dealing with a dissertation committee at odds with one another. I needed to broaden my outlook to create something that was positive, one stitch after another, for my own well-being. I realized that one situation is not destiny. Looking back on Grandma’s knit-and-purl self-therapy, I wonder what she was working through in her mind.  

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

361. When have you used an art form to increase your positive coping skills?  

362. How often do you catch yourself with an initial negative emotion in situations?

Creativity and Well-being

Michelangelo, Crouching Boy, 1530, The State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia

Michelangelo created 42 sculptures. His Crouching Boy initially belonged to Italian banking and political dynasty Medici’s of Florence. In preliminary drawings for a double wall tomb for Lorenzo de’ Medici and his assassinated brother, Giuliano, Michaelangelo drew two crouching figures; only one was sketched in a final design. About 250 years later Crouching Boy was purchased by Russia’s Catherine the Great through a banker who did not know it was sculpted by Michelangelo. Its current home is the Hermitage Museum. If only sculptures could speak!

One interpretation is that ambiguous Crouching Boy is removing a thorn from his foot. There was a tumultuous political climate in Florence and Michelangelo was taking shelter in the monastery of San Lorenzo. Is Crouching Boy making a political statement? According to some scholars, Crouching Boy is considered an allegory of mourning – a grieving soul depicted in an unfinished marble statue in an oddly-seated position. A second opinion is that Crouching Boy is a representation of eternal youth. Take your pick.

Michelangelo led a solitary life and worked until dying at age 89. Aside from his renown as a sculptor, he was a poet. His poetry suggests that a younger man was his love interest. Whether or not he was a gay man who had to hide this fact, people in the 1500’s noticed that mostly nude men were his art form. As artist and activist Richard Kamler suggests, “Art is our one true global language…it speaks to our need to reveal, heal, and transform. It transcends our ordinary lives and lets us imagine what is possible.”

What meaning does “removing a thorn” have in today’s world? Wars are notorious for demonizing the other and for name-calling others who are not known personally. One might ask what constitutes a “thorn” today. We live in ambiguous times. Different interpretations for our global future abound.

Perhaps all of us would do well to turn to the arts. As authors Susan Magsamen (Founder/Director of the International Arts + Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine) and Ivy Ross (VP of Design for hardware products at Google) eloquently write in their 2023 book, Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us, “…[the] alchemy of art and science is transforming our biology in ways that are both measurable and effective…artistic endeavors…effect beneficial outcomes for our physical and mental health…begin to create personalized arts practices. Like exercise and good nutrition, the arts on a routine basis will support your health.”    

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines mental health as a state of well-being whereby an individual realizes their own abilities, copes with normal life stresses, works productively, and is capable of making contributions to their community.

It took 35+ years to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Perhaps you select a slightly smaller project? 

 Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

 347. When have you turned to the arts for transformational time?

348. What do you notice when you are in creative mode?                              

ANGER: The Trauma Within

Le Penseur (The Poet), Auguste Rodin, 1904, Musee Rodin, Paris

Do you have anger about the Presidential election results? Perhaps your anger has other targets, but anger is rampant these days. Drivers on the expressway seem impatient and angry, cutting off their partner drivers as if broadcasting, “Watch out! Get out of my way! I’m changing lanes — whether it’s good for you or not.” This Presidential election reminds me of such drivers; voters chose a candidate with a me-first mentality, only they cannot see that they may be next to be cut off in some future way.

It’s hard to remember that anger is only a part of your personality when it feels like a dangerous drone inside your bodymind is prepped for a destructive lift-off. Whoever is in the path of anger demolition, innocent or not, watch out!

Anger is not about “the enemy within,” but the trauma within. Anger is a protective emotion. It protects our own trauma within — our fears, our grieving, our insecurities, our prejudices and other vulnerabilities we disown in our personalities. All of us have fears, grieving, insecurities, prejudices and other vulnerabilities. “Who me?” you ask. Yes, all of us.

It takes introspective reckoning to admit to all parts of one’s personality.

French Auguste Rodin created The Poet sculpture (also known as The Thinker) as one part of a large commission – Gates of Hell –– for a doorway surround in 1880. His inspiration was Dante’s 14,233-line Divine Comedy. How can it be that Dante’s opening lines in 1300 seem relevant to 2024? Well, he wrote at a time of intense political disagreement in Florence, Italy:

“Midway upon the journey of our life I found myself within a forest dark, / For the straightforward pathway had been lost. /  Ah me! how hard a thing it is to say /  What was this forest savage, rough, and stern,  /  Which in the very thought renews the fear….”

Despite its name invoking entertainment, Divine Comedy (La Commedia) is a fire-and-brimstone allegory. It depicts three layers of an afterlife – Inferno (Hell), Purgatoria, and Paradiso – for the human traveler whose life journey is one of passionate anger, resentment, love, justice and faith. There is a moral in this Early Renaissance epic poem: redemption is possible if one repents sins. Dante distinguished between a weakness-of-will sin and sins characterized by deliberate will.

If visuals interest you more than a 6-hour read, see National Gallery of Art depictions: https://www.nga.gov/stories/dante-divine-comedy-in-art.html   

Whether or not your anger feels passionate on this Veterans’ Day of painful remembrances, anger always requires our attention. I cut off weedy stalks in my garden as one way of dissipating my anger last week. Then I listened to beautiful music. Like other emotional parts of our personalities, a current anger brings up previous times we felt angry. I greeted numerous memories of anger last week. I own them and I can heal them.

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz 

341. What role does anger play in your everyday life?

342. How do you greet and heal your anger in a safe manner?           

Micro-aggression Stitches

Family Life, Susan Else, 2010, San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles

It is difficult to listen to the evening news in this pre-election season when one is bombarded with microaggressions, or outright aggressive threats, aimed at certain populations. Sexism that affects half of humanity, racism, ableism, ageism, and LGBTQ+ stereotyping cause everyday harm for many individuals. Targeted victims often incur deep wounds. It is easy to blame a few people when the real issues are buried within cultural caskets of prejudice layered with new soiling every century.

Psychology researcher Derald Wing Sue grew up in Portland, Oregon. He was not accepted in childhood as a Chinese American and often received cutting rude and crude discrimination. His later education led him to study institutional racism by way of Martin Luther King, Jr’s leadership. As coping siblings, two of Dr. Sue’s brothers also found their way to the field of psychology. Derald Wing Sue and his brother Stanley co-founded the Asian American Psychological Association.

With his brother David, Sue co-authored Counseling the Culturally Diverse: Theory and Practice. The adaptive approach to microaggression is what Sue terms “microintervention” — making the invisible visible, educating the perpetrator, disarming the microaggression, and seeking outside support. These goals need to be sewn into country-wide New Year’s Resolutions.

According to a 2023 survey by the Boys & Girls Club, 40% of school students (ages 9-18 across the U.S.) reported being bullied on school property; this represents a higher number than previous years. Of those bullied students, 55% said that they never told an adult about what happened. Cyberbullying is even more prominent with 82% of adolescents reporting offenses. These aggressive attacks can result in a student’s poor school attendance and performance, as well as an increased substance abuse risk and/or other mental health issues –  including suicide.

Violinist Tyler Clementi committed suicide in 2010 after cyberbullying. His Rutgers University roommate live-streamed Tyler and another male student in a sexual encounter shortly after Tyler’s freshman year began. No one deserves such treatment.

Bullying includes:

  • An aggressor with a sense of power (either real or perceived) and a targeted individual (who may be a victim in circumstances where no one even views the bullying behavior).

Bullying often includes:

  • Bystanders who either witness or hear about abusive behaviors but do not intervene or Upstanders who intervene (through interruption and reporting bullying) as well as offer support to targeted individuals.

Today we often hear the admonishment to “tone down the rhetoric.” This is like putting a butterfly band-aid on a large gaping wound. We need psychological stitches for those wounded by bullying.

Schools at every level must approach micro-and-macro aggression with ongoing system-wide approaches. Some teachers bully other teachers; they also require bullying prevention training. An anti-bullying program is available for free downloading through the Tyler Clementi Foundation’s #Day1 Campaign (to be administered on the first day of school or any time during the school year). https://tylerclementi.org/about/

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz 

337. What microaggressions do you encounter as an adult?

338. When have you acted as an Upstander?             

Ageism Discrimination

Ageism Awareness Day is on October 9th, but let’s make every day an ageism awareness day as the Baby-Boom generation mushrooms into seasoned citizen territory.

 The World Health Organization posts these alarming findings:  Ageism costs billions annually in the U.S. from age discrimination — the economic cost of age discrimination against older workers was estimated to cost $850 billion in lost GDP in 2018 (from factors such as the inability to find work and earn promotions).                                                                                                               1 in 2 people worldwide are ageist against older people.

It is also possible to be ageist against young people, as in saying, “She’s too green for the job,” likely a sexist attitude and ageist. These discriminatory attitudes often travel together, along with a particularly damaging attitude — racism. “Ageism intersects and exacerbates all the other ‘isms,’ including racism, sexism and ableism,” according to the Ageism Fact Sheet compiled by the American Society on Aging (https://asaging.org/sites/default/files/2024-08/Ageism%20Fact%20Sheet%20-%20Ageism%20Awareness%20Day_0.pdf ).

Here is how journalist Connie Chung, first woman to co-anchor the CBS Evening News, describes the career hoops she jumped through at age 23 in Connie: A Memoir: “…Since I stood only five feet, three and a half inches (don’t forget the half), I compensated by wearing stilettos. I wanted to be as close as I could be, eye to eye with the men. I did not want to look up at them. I wanted to be their equal. I tried to lower my voice to mimic theirs and copied their on-air cadence. I knew they could easily bully me, and I was powerless to fight them, so I joined them. I knew I could never be one of the boys, but surely, I could adopt pages from their playbook. It was easy to imagine myself as just another white guy. I became aggressive, tough, bawdy, and extremely competitive. Yes, I looked like a lotus blossom, but I talked like a sailor with a raw sense of humor.”

There is more ageism discrimination for older adults. 64% of older workers maintain that they face age discrimination; 41% report ageism experiences in their workplace. Often companies have expected ages for “retirement.” For some individuals, leaving a demanding career may be a welcome life development; for others, a mandatory age for retirement seems dismissive of one’s talents.  

• Age diversity is not foremost in planning a company’s workforce, although organizations might gain a competitive advantage from multigenerational employees. Acknowledging age equity increases worker feelings of belonging, along with enhancing productivity.                                                                                                                                                         

 • Healthcare is ageist: In ages 50+, 1 in 5 experiences discrimination in healthcare settings.

Now for the good news, if you are lucky enough to live into your 70’s and beyond: people who possess more positive self-perceptions of aging live 7.5 years longer than those with less positive perceptions, according to Yale University researcher Becca Levy.

Find resources to advocate against ageism (https://asaging.org/ageism-awareness).

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz 

331. How often do you catch yourself being ageist?

332. What might you say to another when you hear an ageist remark?                                       

Prevention is an Intervention

September is Suicide Prevention Month. While suicidal thoughts may be common among individuals, regardless of age, gender or background, they are the tip of an iceberg. Suicidal thoughts signal underlying issues that need attention.

Suicide is the cause of death of 49,476 individuals in the U.S. in the most recent year of verified records — 2022, making suicide the 11th leading cause of death. Even more concerning is CDC’s estimate of 1.6 million attempted suicides in 2022. These numbers reflect a massive call for help. The U. S. government stepped up and partnered with the CDC and SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) to provide a 10-year strategy to tackle mental health and overdose issues in suicide. This Federal Action Plan sponsored by the Biden and Harris administration has a comprehensive approach to suicide prevention.

Systems thinker Peter Senge wisely suggests, “Today’s problem comes from yesterday’s solution.” Many “solutions” of yesterday were flawed. Wars are flawed. Of particular concern is the rise in suicides committed by veterans.

The 2023 annual report of the National Veteran Suicide Prevention effort (based on 2021 data) found that veteran suicide rates increased by 11.6% from 2020. This increase has escalated since the wars linked to 9/11 terrorism. Countless soldiers suffer from traumatic brain injury, PTSD, and other bodymind wounding.

This escalation translates into more than 17 veterans taking their own lives each day with the highest percentage occurring in ages 50 or older. This is twice the suicide rate for non-veteran individuals ages 55+. Guns are the chosen vehicle for 53% of all suicide deaths. Veterans were taught to use guns.

As Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori outlined, “Preventing war is the work of politicians, establishing lasting peace is the work of educators.” Each one of us can increase peace within ourselves and educate others about warning signs of suicide (https://www.nami.org/about-mental-illness/common-with-mental-illness/risk-of-suicide/):

  • Increased substance use (alcohol and drugs)
  • Aggressive behavior
  • Withdrawal from friends, family and community
  • Dramatic mood swings
  • Impulsive or reckless behavior

Possible behavior changes prior to suicide include:

  • Collecting and saving pills or buying a weapon
  • Giving away possessions
  • Tying up loose ends, like organizing personal papers or paying off debts
  • Saying goodbye to friends and family      

We know what is helpful in daily living:

  • A sense of purpose: feeling valued and contributing to a job, family, and/or community;
  • Social connections: positive relationships with co-workers, family, and friends;
  • Financial stability: financial security (helps but is not 100% protective);
  • Access to resources: access to mental health assistance;
  • Routine and structure: a daily routine through employment, taking classes, or volunteer work.

Let’s respectfully acknowledge those who have attempted suicide, died by suicide, and their families/friends.

The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline has received more than 10.8 million calls, texts and chats since its 2022 launch. 988 is available 24/7 for anyone in crisis.

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz 

325. Do you know anyone at risk for suicide?

326. How might you extend a lifeline to them?                     

Be an Architect of Health

All are architects of Fate, / Working in these walls of Time; / Some with massive deeds and great, / Some with ornaments of rhyme….

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow captures some possibilities of spending our precious time in his poem, “The Builders.” Everyone is their own architect in building healthy patterns of living. September is Healthy Aging Month, a time to pause and reflect on our pro-and-con health habits built up over decades. Are your habits as healthy as possible with your age, genetics, and current circumstances?

National Institute on Aging (NIA) researchers found that participants who practiced a certain 4-5 healthy behaviors had a 60% lower risk of Alzheimer’s Disease than those exhibiting none or only one factor: 1) no smoking; 2) limited alcohol consumption; 3) a healthy diet with half of your plate in colorful fruits and veggies (as in the MIND diet or the Mediterranean diet); 4) regular cognitive activities; and 5) at least 150 minutes each week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Just committing to 2-3 of these body-happy habits offered a 37% lower risk of dementia among study participants.                                     

Further suggestions for aging well are scaffolding layers for supporting one’s healthy habits. A concerted effort in blood pressure control significantly reduces the risk of mild cognitive impairment (often a forerunner to Alzheimer’s). Hearing aids reduce the rate of cognitive decline in nearly 50% in older adults who are at risk for developing dementia. Taking a daily multivitamin supplement for 3 years can improve the brain’s memory and executive function.  

If such building blocks seem daunting, just start building health-filled habits somewhere.    

  • Make physical activity possible for yourself! I am an early-bird riser. I love early morning stretching to classical music, tai chi in a park with others, and gardening. You might prefer walking. Walk (with someone if that is fun for you) 3-4 days per week.
  • When you include physical activity as an ongoing habit, it will lower your blood pressure, blood cholesterol, and blood sugar levels.
  • Avoid processed foods with ingredients you cannot pronounce. Stay hydrated.
  • Find social engagement that links with cognitive activities of interest to you.
  • Practice mindfulness. I participate on an online 20-minute silent mindfulness reflection group every morning. You may want only 5-10 solo minutes and at another time of day. Try it. You will surprise yourself with body-happy results.

According to CDC data, nearly 20% of adults ages 55+ experience a mental health condition or concern. Data from the National Council on Aging find that 85% of adults ages 55+ experience at least one chronic physical condition (such as hypertension, arthritis, or heart disease).

Bird brains know what to feed upon–mostly seeds–and they are especially adept at movement without needing any fancy equipment. I am not sure if they meditate when singing, but bird song is meditative for those of us missing feathers.  

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz 

323. When do you feel healthy?

324. How might you increase the times you feel healthy?

Pearls of Labor

“School days, school days, good old golden rule days….” The kids are back in school, but how many educators pay heed to this 1907 phrase? Rather, the “…tune of a hick’ry stick” might be educators’ go-to behavior management, as corporal punishment is legal in private schools in every state except Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, New Jersey and New York. Furthermore, the outdated discipline is legal in public schools in 17 states and practiced in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. Students of color and those with disabilities disproportionately receive corporal punishment.

The Senate introduced the Protecting our Students in Schools Act of 2023, which would prohibit corporal punishment in schools that receive federal funding. Investments are recommended to transform school discipline with restorative justice practices. When students are taught problem-solving skills, benefits ripple into their lives beyond the classroom.

According to the August 2024 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Report (Part IV), students’ health, mental health, and well-being has worsened over the past 10 years —  https://bit.ly/3T3JNv8. An increased percentage of U.S. adolescents report facing school-based violence and/or bullying. Absenteeism due to students’ safety concerns is a related issue. While eliminating school corporal punishment is not a total solution, adults model coping strategies for students. Hitting children is not a coping strategy. Hands are for helping, not hurting.

While pandemic levels were higher, current student mental health statistics suggest that schools might re-consider their methods:

  • 40% of students overall are experiencing persistent feelings of sadness/hopelessness with a higher percentage among female students (53%), some of whom have considered suicide;
  • 42% of Hispanic students feel persistently sad or hopeless, 26% experience poor mental health, 18% have considered suicide, and 16% have made suicide plans;
  • 10% of Black students have attempted suicide.

The 2023 statistics for female students and LGBTQ+ students are staggering:

  • Nearly 2 in 10 female students experienced sexual violence (1 in 10 being physically forced to have sex);
  • More than 3 in 5 LGBTQ+ students experienced persistent feelings of sadness/hopelessness;
  • Nearly 3 in 10 LGBTQ+ students were bullied at school;
  • 1 in 5 LGBTQ+ students attempted suicide during the past year.

As a former school psychologist, these statistics are disturbing. I worked in a progressive school system in Massachusetts where prevention was a main driver of my work. We administered kindergarten screening to each 5-year-old to provide appropriate help from day one. In second grade, each student was administered an individual IQ test. Later I worked in a progressive Illinois high school within a self-contained special education program with students who were in danger of becoming dropouts. Our labor-of-love Problem Solving Conferences were created to nurture and teach students how to dialogue about issues with teachers, classmates, and family members. While we did not call it modeling the golden rule, that is what we were doing.

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz 

321. How many youth do you know who may be in need of problem-solving training?

322. What opportunities do you have for mentoring youth?    

Olympics & Mental Health

Eiffel Tower in Moonlight (Loic Venance/AFP via Getty Images)

Vincent Van Gogh captured the essence of one’s ability potential in a letter that he wrote to his brother: “…principles are good and worth the effort only when they develop into deeds…it’s good to reflect and to try to be conscientious, because that makes a person’s will to work more resolute and turns the various actions into a whole…for the great doesn’t happen through impulse alone and is a succession of little things that are brought together…it’s the same with other things as it is with artistic matters…the great isn’t something accidental; it must be willed.” 

What does it take to make a winning Olympian? Details may vary among different individuals, but I agree that greatness takes willpower which I define as grit. Research psychologist Angela Duckworth defines grit as “the power of passion plus persistence.” Grit is exercising discipline, a basic human need.

However, grit is not the only consideration in a person’s successful outcomes. One’s mental health is the secret sauce of success.

We can thank Simone Biles for educating folks about the importance of one’s mentally healthy approach to her dangerous-but-oh-so-beautiful sport. When she needed to drop out of most of the Olympic competition in Tokyo, many treated her decision harshly; she was expected to “push through,” and deny her doubts. Unfortunately, those who critiqued Biles misunderstood the situation.

Betty Okino, a 1992 Olympic medalist, explained that a gymnast can die if one cannot land on their feet (and end up landing on their head). Gymnasts call their doubts “the twisties,” a mental block where one has difficulty grasping their acute spatial ability to sense and control airborne moves. It feels as if their body and brain have a disconnect.

Biles did push through calf pain in the Paris Olympic qualification round this weekend, aiding her team in climbing to the top of the leaderboard. Biles told Hoda Kotb that she used to think of psychotherapy as a weakness. Now she has learned to speak about trauma.

Biles is not alone in addressing her mental health needs as an elite athlete. The comeback swimmer Caeleb Dressel made a decision to take 8 months off after the Tokyo Olympics to regroup in meeting his mental health needs; he has worked with a therapist weekly for 2 years.

According to Jess Bartley, senior director of psychological services for the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, 15 psychological service providers worked with 1,200 athletes last year. Athletes grapple with such questions:

  • What is the place that sport has in your life?
  • How is your identity tied up in this?
  • What does it mean to make, or not make, the Olympic Games?

The Paris Olympics has a 24/7 hotline with mental health counselors who speak 70+ languages. This year athletes may seek services until 4 years post-Olympic week. Elite athletes are role models in caretaking one’s bodymind without shame.

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz 

311. How do you define your own identity?

312. When do you need extra willpower or grit in your life?