Roisin Willis opens up about struggle with insomnia and depression

I tend to agree with you on sharing 'everything' on instagram, but as her challenge is actually one that many student/athletes face, it may really help her to get it out on the table. Every student/athlete faces a balance between sports/academics/sleep and 'normal college life'.

At a top school this can be even harder, as your classmates are all bright and well prepared, so you don't want to let them down. Similarly campus life is vibrant, so you don't want to miss out. Sleep usually loses out, and as a runner that's a killer. I can only imagine adding insomnia to this already difficult challenge.

It starts a vicious cycle of no sleep equals poor workouts and inefficient studying (falling asleep in your book at your desk) leads to general unhappiness (poor grades & injury). Plenty of people find a way to cope with this, and that resulting balance is a skill that later helps in career and family life.

If you are not handling it well, better to confront early and get support from family, coaches, teammates and counselors.

Lastly as a fan, it's nice to get an 'explanation' like "dealing with chronic insomnia effecting my performance". Working to solve will keep you posted. It reduces speculation.

You're a toolbag. You are soft. Her coming forward and admitting this is a step toward healing and is the antithesis of "soft." Methinks you could be decked with a quick left, tough guy.

First of all, it is NOT courageous to share this on social media. It has become the norm. She is definitely a good kid and wish her well. Like an earlier poster, there is no upside to sharing the intimate details that kids love to share nowadays. It doesn’t mean they are brave, just that they are struggling. There is no shame in struggling but very odd to me that it’s become a badge of courage.

Because it can help others. including potentially specific people she knows. why is everyone here ignoring that exactly? did you not read what she wrote? this is a kid that really doesnt post on social media all that often. but when she did it was always some accomplishment or something positive. thats the trap of social media and its reinforced by seeing others posting only the most positive things and the prettiest pictures. she could have taken your advice and kept giving a fake picture of herself and kept "quiet" but she chose to disclose her issues because she knows others are suffering silently from the same kind of issues. and this is an especially poignant issue at Stanford where they have very recently had a terrible loss of a beloved athlete. and with almost 13,000 followers her reach is a lot bigger than most of her peers. and isnt that by far the best way to use your social media platform? to try to help others? and NOT be fake? we should be thanking her for this not trying to dissuade her. she could potentially save lives. read the comments from dozens of athletes who ARENT famous high school prodigies with incredible accomplishments. all these anonymous high school and college kids no one has ever heard of saying they suffered from the very same issues and thanking her for saying this. THATS why she did this.

Agreed.

Quite a few professional runners to whom I pay attention to post volumes when life and training are wonderful -- and, of course, when they are promoting new sponsored products

However, when the dark clouds of injury and illness appear, they disappear into radio silence.

So, all due respect to Roisin for what she has revealed.

However, here is a (very small) lingering point of speculation:

Could all this be the real reason why Juliette chose to race the 1500 at West Regionals? To "get out of her best friend's way", so to speak, so that Roisin would not have additional pressure of trying to keep up with or be compared to Juliette who's been a shooting star all through indoors and outdoors?

At this point, it doesn't matter, it's irrelevant.

However, sure hope Roisin can regain her joie de vivre in time for fall school at Stanford.

We've all seen too many high school phenoms who -- for whatever reasons -- never manage to take the next step and disappear from the sport.

Young kids these days get offended over smallest things. I try to talk to some of them and they're get triggered over smallest criticism or even not even applauding. Social media will destroy their mental psyche. I am not saying it's their fault. I am sure I could have been just as bad as they're but it is what is now. Constant need for attention and approval/likes are doing deep mental psyche op on them. But Zuckerberg and China are making $$$ off them so it's all good.

I just read the IG post and agree that it was completely appropriate for her to post this very personal information.It was very brave to be so open about her struggles and this takes the burden of trying to keep it a secret off of her. As you said, this helps others. It was wonderful to read the supportive comments from others including some fellow NCAA athletes.

Mental health issues are on the rise, and you mentioned the suicide of the Stanford athlete. There have been a number of these tragedies. The one that really shocked me the most happened several years ago, Madison Holleran. She was the college runner that jumped off a parking garage roof. No one really had any idea what she was going through. Maybe if people feel more comfortable sharing their struggles with others, someone can intervene and help them before it’s too late.

You get it. I normally hate social media but then I see it used for good and it makes me think there's hope in this world.

Very good point--it's affecting a lot of people my age; the validation trap and the comparison trap (twin evils) on social media is even harming off-line relationships and dealing with life on a day-to-day basis. Without going into too much detail that struggle can be paralyzing.

First of all, Facebook can also be public and is for old people.

Now, I don’t think social media is great either. But she’s 18 — I don’t know who’s advising her or helping her, but an IG post explaining what’s going on with her isn’t the worst thing in the world, and it might actually help someone else.

Men overwhelming commit suicide, and I suspect it’s mostly men here crapping all over those who open up about stress instead of letting it crush them silently.

People who were around before social media, how did you tell thousands of people about your incredibly normal emotions and afflictions? Must it have bothered you to have no way to let thousands of people know you're sad? How could you have overcome your problems without the support of ~2,000 instagram likes?

Kids share this type of stuff for sympathy likes, plain and simple. It also sets up the "comeback" narrative they can use for more likes in the future when they make the post and potential interview circuit when they "overcome" the whatever they posted about. Once upon a time, you just dealt with your issues, went to therapy, and didn't burden the public with it.

The last thing I would do is publicly post this...but to each their own.

Perhaps moving across the country combined with all the unnaturalness of modern life is making her feel sick. Social media, microwaves everywhere, processed food laden with chemicals, cleaning agents loaded with endocrine disrupters, and artificial light high in the blue spectrum to name a few things encouraging depression and insomnia.

I was going to post something ver similar. Stress from a new unfamiliar enviroment and an expectation to perform combined with the effects of artificial light is sure to cause insomnia.

I wish her the best in managing her stress and working with those who can help optimize her sleep enviroment.

Willis is a very impressive young woman. Her interview after NCAA's was raw, honest and candid, especially finding out her mental health issues. Wishing her all the best in her running career.

I agree with this. Go to school, treat education as the primary reason, have fun running on the side, and don't even have social media.