Lots of generational fragility floating around. Naomi Osaka, Sydney McL ...
Do you think the mental health issues these young athletes deal with is primarily because of social media and the access fans have to them?
Seems to turn on (a) what people think about them (b) their view of who they are as individuals (c) some measure of social discomfort and the like.
If the fans and followers are there for resonance and adulation, then it seems consistent that the fans and followers are also a convenient/inconvenient medium/ go-to-audience when folly or difficulty take center stage.
There is also a gendered dynamic and a race and ethnicity component in the mix. Women and "minorities".
Also, elite athletes distill everything through a competitive lens and personal satisfaction. Dahis likely a variable in the potpurri.
A NZ cyclist also succumbed to these challenges after the Olympics. Her Instagram quotes Kurt Cobain --- 🧸💿‘𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍𝚢, 𝙸 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚝’ - Kurt Cobain ➳ 🐚☁️.
Probably not a one size fits all reality, but it also seems that social media is a beneficiary of athletes coming of age in a supposedly "non-confrontational" society that abounds with micro-aggressions.
EDIT: So ... anyone who relied on ah ole school "haul yuh arse" seems to have received value without the 21st century social media angst.
Some keys to longevity according to those living it.