08/05/2021

Prioritizing Mental Health in the Workplace

What Simone Biles can teach us

While the pandemic helped shine a spotlight on mental health, professional athletes have upped the ante recently with their bold stance on placing their mental health over their sports work. Tennis player Naomi Osaka made headlines when she withdrew from the French Open and Wimbledon earlier this year. And just last week, seven-time Olympic medalist Simone Biles withdrew from several gymnastics events in Tokyo to focus on her mental health, saying she might have been injured if she’d tried to compete in her mental state.

Lisa Lewis, chief human resources officer for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), said many employees are affected by mental health concerns and examples like this help others recognize the importance of speaking up.

“I was so proud of [Biles] to say, ‘It’s okay not to be okay, and I need to step away from this for my mental health,’” Lewis said. “Mental health is just as important as physical health.”

Please select this link to read the complete article from Associations Now.