Photo Credit- DarkSideOfTheRing, EnterntainmentTonight, BleacherReport
Mental Health is an issue that has plagued our society especially in the last year or so, sadly this is a serious problem as it can lead to disasters that could have been prevented with the proper care and help from professionals.
The death of Daffney rocked the wrestling world as hours before being found dead she had posted a video regarding her life and how she regretted much of it, this broke my heart and made me realize that even in an industry that focuses on “being strong” there are still people that struggle with mental health as well.
Mental health is not a game and it should be taken seriously even in wrestling. There are two big reasons that should be important when speaking about mental health in wrestling.
Bullying and Harrasment
There is a serious problem that should be stated and is that wrestlers are human beings like the rest of us as they are not immune nor are perfect individuals.
Wrestling fans tend to believe that just because someone is famous then they can critique and even harass them, well let me be the first to tell you that you got problems. Wrestlers constantly deal with critiques from others, this is sickening because this is one reason why talent suffers from anxiety as they try to please everyone.
When we look at someone like Hana Kimura, she was special and had an amazing heart but despite that others cyberbullied her leading to her terrible suicide.
We need to take a moment and evaluate ourselves and see if we are putting our actions in the right place as such can affect somebody else’s life.
Wrestling should not be a place for toxicity or anything that hurts others emotionally much less mentally and if we want this to end then it must start with the fans that do not hesitate to critique without knowing what the talent might be experiencing in life.
Concussions
Concussions have been a hot topic in wrestling for more than a decade to the point where WWE has had numerous lawsuits, this is a crucial aspect of mental health as talent sacrifice their bodies to give the best show possible.
Wrestling is not a safe sport and it consists of many injuries (there is a reason why it should not be tried at home) so it is sickening to see how companies treat their talent as if they were expendable. There is something to be done when it comes to concussions as they can affect the life of talent in the long term.
Mental health is slowly affected after talent is concussed, the effects might take years but they eventually appear and it deteriorates the well-being of a human being.
In “Darby Allin, Please Don’t Die” I focused on how being reckless might affect the future of a young talent therefore I highly recommend the article.
Final Thoughts
I myself have struggled with anxiety and depression, it is not easy and it led me to dark places yet thanks to the help from professionals I overcame it and am going strong to this day. If you are struggling and need help I assure you that there will be someone there for you.
Wrestlers should take proper care of their mental health, my hope is for companies to take more emphasis as it could save a life. There is always room for improvement as it helps fr wrestling to be a safe and fun environment.
