Read

This WNBA Player Reminds Us It's Okay to Fall Apart

Published:
May 20, 2024
September 25, 2020
Read this article on WNBA player Kayla McBride talking about her mental health, and how it isn't a game you can either win or lose.|Read this article on WNBA player Kayla McBride talking about her mental health, and how it isn't a game you can either win or lose.

We don’t need permission to feel sad or hopeless or lost. And yet, somewhere along the way, we started to think there was something wrong with us if we couldn’t hold it all together. Our instinct is to believe the lie that the only acceptable answer to “How are you?” is an immediate, “Good, how are you?” We hide, instead of seeking help.

In the end, it’s easier to just shut out difficult feelings — to ignore them or bury them in other pursuits until we’ve forgotten their power over us. But that tactic only works for so long. Sooner or later, we have to face those feelings. And the longer they’ve been left to simmer just beneath the surface, the worse they seem when we finally confront them.

This is what WNBA player Kayla McBride experienced when the pandemic hit — for the first time, she didn’t have basketball to turn to. She recently shared her experience with anxiety in a piece for The Players’ Tribune, and it’s worth a read.

“I didn’t realize just how much I had let basketball be the thing that carried me — freed me from dealing with the things that were actually going on inside my mind. At least, until the world stopped,” she wrote.

McBride goes on to share how quickly her anxiety began to take over. She had spent her life building a dam to block out the anxious thoughts that plagued her, and basketball was the key to keeping that structure together. When it was gone, the dam broke. And she fell apart.

“I lost myself during quarantine,” she writes. “There were days when I didn’t get out of bed. I didn’t want to work out. I didn’t want to train. I didn’t want to be around anything or anybody. I couldn’t shut off the fact that I didn’t feel O.K.”

For McBride, as painful as it was, this process of breaking down led her to finally address issues that she had long been ignoring. She started seeing her anxiety triggers as something she had to address head-on and to manage with on-going effort. “Mental health is a journey,” she says. “It’s not a game that you either win or lose.”

She shares a valuable lesson through her vulnerability: it’s okay to fall apart. We were not made to be perfect, so it’s no use pretending to be. Maybe we’re afraid to show our struggles because we think others have it worse. Maybe we want to appear strong for those who look up to us. Or maybe we just don’t have the words to share how we’re feeling. Healing starts with admitting that we’re not okay, and we need help. It starts with bravely sharing our stories and knowing that there are others out there who feel the same.

Read McBride’s story, and join the conversation about caring for your mental health.

Creators:
Grotto Shares
Published:
May 20, 2024
September 25, 2020
On a related note...
WandaVision Is Trying to Teach Us Something About Grief

WandaVision Is Trying to Teach Us Something About Grief

Josh Noem

5 Signs You're in a Toxic Relationship

5 Signs You're in a Toxic Relationship

Maria Walley

4 Ways to Make Almost Any Meal Taste Better

4 Ways to Make Almost Any Meal Taste Better

Anna O'Neil

Having Trouble Sleeping? Use These Stretches to Power Down

Having Trouble Sleeping? Use These Stretches to Power Down

Hanna Van Elk

Get Through a Busy Week With These 30-Minute Meals

Get Through a Busy Week With These 30-Minute Meals

Lauren Lawson

My Struggle with Porn

My Struggle with Porn

Christine Chu

3 Ways You Can Repair a Sibling Relationship

3 Ways You Can Repair a Sibling Relationship

Claire Collins

Asking for Healing in Times of Need

Asking for Healing in Times of Need

Mary Ann Wilson

Is Your Marriage Missing a Spark? Here’s How to Rekindle the Flame

Is Your Marriage Missing a Spark? Here’s How to Rekindle the Flame

Amelia Ruggaber

3 Action Steps to Learn a New Language

3 Action Steps to Learn a New Language

Hannah Smith

Improv Taught Me to Embrace the Fail

Improv Taught Me to Embrace the Fail

Jennon Bell Hoffmann

5 Ways to Feel at Home in Your New City

5 Ways to Feel at Home in Your New City

Joe Kuhns

What’s on the Other Side of Our Fear?

What’s on the Other Side of Our Fear?

Meghan Franklin

What My Faith Taught Me About the Power of Fashion

What My Faith Taught Me About the Power of Fashion

Lillian Fallon

Helping His Hometown Get Healthy And Swole

Helping His Hometown Get Healthy And Swole

Grotto

The Truth About Society and Body Dissatisfaction

The Truth About Society and Body Dissatisfaction

John Acquaviva, PhD

Living in a Van to Find Home (and Himself)

Living in a Van to Find Home (and Himself)

Grotto

How Do We Avoid Tech Interfering With Our Humanity?

How Do We Avoid Tech Interfering With Our Humanity?

Erin Spruit

I'm a Suicide Survivor — Here's How I Began to Recover

I'm a Suicide Survivor — Here's How I Began to Recover

Kristen Deasy

Being Vegan Doesn't Look the Same for Everyone

Being Vegan Doesn't Look the Same for Everyone

Grotto

newsletter

We’d love to be pals.

Sign up for our newsletter, and we’ll meet you in your inbox each week.