SelfWork YGTG: Simone, Stigma and Suicide
The SelfWork Podcast
Margaret Robinson Rutherford PhD
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 10 August 2021
⏱️ 6 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On today's You Get the Gist, I’m wanting to make a couple of points that may or may not have occurred to you while you heard about or you were watching Simone Biles’ journey at the Olympics. First, I wondered what your first thought might’ve been when you heard Ms. Biles had initially opted out. And we fairly quickly learned it was because of her concerns about her focus – basically her impaired state of mental health – and how that might work to harm her physically. Or as she said to her team, “I don’t want to ruin your chances of winning…” with a less than stellar performance.
And second, did you put yourself in her shoes? Could you disappoint your boss, or your family, or your kids – due to your own concerns about your mental health? How many times have you done things that you realized on a core level might harm you, but you went ahead and did it? Would there be a limit to that? What would the boundary be for you to say, “No, I can’t.”
There’s a lot you can learn from your own reactions… so I’m here today simply asking a few questions of you – the answers are yours to be privately considered – and maybe changed if need be.
Important Links:
The Weight of Gold Official Trailer
Story of Brett Cohen's Prank on Celebrity
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to Selfwork, a YGTG, or you get the gist, I'm Dr. Margaret Rutherford. |
| 0:12.8 | Today's YGTG's on Simone, stigma and suicide, and I'm wanting to make a couple of points |
| 0:18.1 | that may or may not have occurred to you while you've heard or were watching Simone |
| 0:21.6 | Biles' journey at the Olympics. |
| 0:24.2 | But first, I want to congratulate the entire team on their efforts, their sportsmanship |
| 0:28.3 | and their triumphs. |
| 0:29.8 | I watched a team interview where I was appalled, actually, even though I'm a mental |
| 0:33.7 | health professional that focused solely on Simone, while there were other goals, silver |
| 0:38.1 | and bronze medalists sitting there. |
| 0:40.4 | If there was ranker on the team, we didn't see it. |
| 0:42.9 | Instead, they supported one another, and that was truly meaningful to see. |
| 0:46.7 | So congratulations to all. |
| 0:48.5 | First, I wondered what your first thought might have been when you heard Ms. Biles |
| 0:52.3 | had initially opted out. |
| 0:54.0 | And we fairly quickly learned it was because of her concerns about her focus, basically |
| 0:58.2 | her impaired state of mental health, and how that might work to harm her physically. |
| 1:02.8 | Or as she said to her team, I don't want to ruin your chances of winning with a less |
| 1:07.1 | and stellar performance. |
| 1:09.0 | What I saw on Twitter, not that I'm much of a Twitter fan, that the almost immediate |
| 1:13.5 | reference to the gymnast years ago came up, Carrie Strugg, who won gold while performing |
| 1:18.6 | on a severely wounded ankle. |
| 1:20.8 | She was carried out of the stadium by her proud and beaming coach. |
... |
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