Content warning: This editorial contains mentions of sexual abuse. 

Editor’s Note: Editorials are representative of the views of all Editorial Board members. One or two members will compile these views and write an editorial.

Mental health is something we all hear about, but more than that, it’s something we all have. It lingers in many important conversations here in the 21st century, and rightly so. Many things affect one’s mental health and well-being. 

Mental health is impacted by the things we experience, good or bad. Traumatic experiences, for example, are important factors in messing with many people’s mental health, impacting them in very obvious or hidden ways. These hidden impacts may seem nice at first — out of sight, out of mind? — but realistically, it leaves the person to fight the battle on their own, putting up a false front. 

Simone Biles seems to be a perfect example of this front. From what can be seen by the world’s eyes, she is a perfect gymnast and has everything together. Biles has achieved a level of greatness shared by only a few in her sport, smashing records and perfecting moves so dangerous that other gymnasts are hesitant to even attempt them. 

Realistically, Biles experienced some very traumatizing events when she was younger at the hands of Larry Nassar, which often goes untold when talking about the woman many consider the greatest gymnast of her generation, if not of all time.

Nassar stole innocence away from Biles and many other young American gymnasts over the course of his 18-year career. Biles was abused by Nassar and likely lives with haunting after-effects, but still, she has continued to compete for the team that categorically failed to protect the very athletes we’ve spent the last decade rooting for.

Biles is the only survivor of Nassar (that has come forward publicly) to compete in Tokyo. The weight she must have been feeling on her shoulders seems absolutely unbearable. 

In an interview with the New York Times, Biles revealed she was betrayed by USA Gymnastics’ failure to protect her, her teammates and hundreds of other young athletes. Still, she has persisted in spite of this for years.

Struggling with any mental health issue feels absolutely isolating. Take that, and then imagine being on the world’s biggest stage, with so many people watching you while simultaneously struggling. To us, that sounds like pure and utter hell. 

Mental health and physical well-being is incontrovertibly linked, whether the impacts are felt by the laziest among us or the world’s most elite athletes. One wrong move from Biles could have paralyzed or killed her. 

The world watched Biles withdraw from the team final and the women’s individual all-around events in the Tokyo Olympics so she could prioritize her mental health.  

This was an amazing feat for the entire world to see. Watching someone prioritize their mental health is something we all need. The world does not have enough people willing to put their own mental health and well-being first. From a young age, we seem to be encouraged to help everyone else. There’s nothing wrong with this, in theory.

But how can you focus on everyone else if getting through the day yourself is a giant hurdle? 

Too often, we encourage people to pour from an empty cup.

The backlash we have seen scrolling through social media is sickening. People shaming Biles for taking care of herself and doing what she needed to do to stay safe, physically and mentally, is so sad but telling. 

It’s doubtful that much of the backlash will ever be seen by Biles herself; hopefully, she’s tuned into the much more important support coming from all corners of the world.

Unfortunately, the people saying hateful and horrible things probably have friends who struggle with mental illness. Biles may not see it, but those friends will. Bottom line, we need to do better. 

Mental health is important. Biles is important. She holds the title as one of the best gymnasts, the G.O.A.T., which is an amazing feat in itself. But one of the most courageous things she could have done is withdraw from the 2020 Olympic Games. 

Setting herself up to be shamed on the world’s stage for something many will never understand was not an easy feat in the slightest. Biles did it anyway.

Mental well-being is incredibly important, and if one of the world’s best athletes can prioritize hers, why can’t we all? The world owes Biles one hell of a giant thank you. She stepped up for herself but inevitably also stepped up for everyone else struggling.

After her record-breaking seventh national championship win in May, Biles had a four-word phrase tattooed on her collarbone. It says, “And still I rise.”  

We aren’t all Olympic athletes. We may never experience what Biles has, but we can follow her example and put ourselves first. 

Like Biles, you, too, have the ability to persevere despite all obstacles — not in the pursuit of greatness in the eyes of the world, but for yourself.