For Rachael Flatt, Chris Murphy, Why The USOPC’s Mental Health Taskforce Is Important—And Personal

.....Already, said retired Olympic figure skater Rachael Flatt, they’ve broken into different subcommittees and started working toward their goals of identifying and sharing the tools and resources that will be of greatest value to the athletic community. With May being Mental Health Awareness Month, the USOPC is focused on raising awareness around the subject. Tips, resources and athlete stories can be found at TeamUSA.org/MentalHealth. 

This is something Flatt said wouldn’t have happened 10 or 15 years ago.

“We would not even be having this conversation,” the 2010 Olympian said. “Mental health has been such a taboo subject, and the only way it was discussed was in a veiled effort around resilience and mental toughness. Now we can be more open and talk about true clinical disorders such as eating disorders, anxiety and depression. For me, the fact that we’re able to have open discussions now is exciting. I do think we have a long way to go in terms of getting folks on board in terms of education, awareness, prevention and treatment, and this is going to be an ongoing, evolving process.”......

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Bethany`s Notes: Looks like Team USA`s mental health task force is doing work. That`s a great thing and long overdue. I`ll continue to monitor their progress and hope elite athletes get the help they need.