I came across an article recently that got me all riled up. The tone of the article was essentially discounting professional athletes who claim mental health as a factor in their performance  –a factor, mind you–  and I was SO disappointed in the article’s author. Of course, my reaction is fitting. And biased. Because as a ‘BC (before cancer) athlete’ and as a mental health professional, it makes total sense that I disagree wholeheartedly. Mental health has both equity and significance to overall health and wellness; and overall health and wellness absolutely has a direct impact on performance. But, this month’s posts aren’t going to be about standing up for the honor of our professional athletes, instead they are going to go layers deeper. 

The First Layer

While I am biased towards mental health’s significance, I am also hyper aware of how it is consistently cheapened and more, misunderstood. When articles like this come out, it causes confusion and often distorts core issues. The first thing that comes to mind for me when I read this article: What is often judged as an ‘excuse’ might, in fact, be an ‘explanation.’ In general, we are so quick to point the accusatory finger…amiright!? Think about it? How many times have you seen the end of that fingertip? Or  –and be honest with yourself–  how many times have you pointed it? 

There is a significant difference, albeit separated by a very fine line (those layers saved for another post), between excuses and explanations. The word nerd in me is going to dive in and the athlete, the cancer patient, the cancer survivor, the mental health counselor, and the coach in me is gonna speak up. I wanna change the conversation and I wanna confront the motive. Why? Because this doesn’t just impact our professional athletes. 

The Next Layer

It impacts our development. Imagine a teacher or parent accusing a kid of making an excuse when actually it’s an explanation. Play out some scenarios. Maybe you even have first-hand experience.

It impacts our workplaces. Imagine what would happen if your supervisor heard your response as an explanation rather than an excuse. Think of some times where this confusion directly affected your experiences.

And therefore, how that impacts communication. And relationships (work and otherwise). 

It impacts our ability to companion others through tough times. Consider telling a cancer survivor how understandable it is that they are forever changed by cancer so their behaviors make total sense as opposed to, “Stop living in the past,” and/or “Get over it already.”

It impacts personal accountability and responsibility, our view of self. Imagine how different the outcome of a situation would be if you didn’t choose the escape of excuse. (“Feedback February” anyone?!!)

This distinction matters. Because what comes out of its work is a far healthier overall perspective, more productive communication, improved (and maybe even restored) relationships, healing empathy, and accurate internal narratives. And a bonus – to get to healthy rhetoric about mental health’s significance is to be different – to learn it, to live it, and to speak it.

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#cancerteachesmethings #mentalhealth #lifecoach

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