She is strong for sharing that and I hope she gets the help she needs and that she feels good about herself. That probably was very hard for her to do.
It's unfortunate, though, that she will get hate on this forum from some of the usual chuckleheads.
It works just fine. I will not copy the entire post, but here is the start.
jwhittaker22 1h i’ve gone back and forth about whether to share this. but silence can be heavy, and i’m learning that healing sometimes starts with speaking up and being authentically vulnerable.
Wishing her well. Here's the full text of her post:
i’ve gone back and forth about whether to share this. but silence can be heavy, and i’m learning that healing sometimes starts with speaking up and being authentically vulnerable.
the truth is: i’ve been struggling with depression for a long time now and recently it has become heavy and unbearable to carry.
a few weeks ago i reached a breaking point and all i wanted to do was give up. life brought me to a place i never imagined i’d be. i had to hit pause — on school, on running, on everything. it was dark and hard, but deeply necessary. i opened a door i thought i wouldn’t come back from. but, i did. and a large reason i did was because of the people in my life who refused to let go of me—even when i let go of myself. they showed up for me, visited me, waited for me, and loved me, and quite frankly, that saved my life.
i’m not gonna say everything is sunshine and rainbows now because that would be far from the truth…but, what i will say is that after countless months of fighting and struggling in darkness, i finally have hope that one day things will get better and i will want to be alive more than i’m scared not to be.
i know this post won’t change the world in any drastic way (although i wish it could), but i hope it can make even just one person feel a little less alone. even if your mind is telling you you don’t matter (and trust me, i know how loud that lie can get), you are not alone and you matter more than you will ever know.
i’ve been gone, but i’m finding my way back. it’s not easy, some days are still hard, and everyday healing looks different, but i’m starting to believe that life has more for me. for you, too.
this is an incredibly hard chapter, but it is not the end of my story. 🤍
I am wishing her well, will pray for her, and will make the effort to smile and say hello to people more often. This is something I am trying to do. Radical kindness in the world. I have also encouraged my kids to do this in school. Say hello to people, ask them to join in a conversation, ask them to sit with you at lunch or sit down with them and ask them about their day. These are things I wish I'd done more of as a teenager and I am trying to make up for it as an adult. No man is an island, as Donne said. Be the bridge that may save someone's life!
Comparison everywhere, having to always be "on" in a public setting, to always match your best is a difficult mental task. Almost everyone is just putting on a show, at 100% best or capping to look better than they are. Then when they're home and alone, it's back to reality and their worst level. The expectation is unrealistic. Social media has exacerbated this horrific issue. Pressure and comparison lead to mental exhaustion and a breaking point. Compassion and understand go a long way.
Powerful stuff. This is what "breaking the stigma" actually means.
Yikes.
Depression must really suck as an elite/collegiate athlete. I can only imagine. Hope she gets the help she needs.
Heidesch [Duke, 3:59 in HS] also posted about it recently.
I wonder if there are higher rates at more rigorous / "prestigious" colleges - I feel like people would be working incredibly hard in both athletics and school which would leave them just perpetually exhausted.
Wow. That is really alarming to read. I hope Juliette knows that we are all pulling for her. She's an incredible athlete and clearly a great person and great teammate. She has so much to give. It takes great courage to come out like this.
Didn’t Roisin Willis also suffer from mental health issues?
Being a student-athlete at Stanford must be tough. When I was in high school it seemed like the dream scenario but now with perspective I can see how that could turn into a nightmare. Roisin mentioned she was having insomnia issues and I can only imagine how the academic load plus training and any number of other commitments starts to weigh heavily. I think running can also be uniquely challenging mentally when you are able to so directly compare yourself with previous seasons and your competition. When things are going well, it can easy to tune that out or just carry along but when things get rocky that can suddenly change. I'm sure Juliette has a wonderful support system around her and I would hope that the running community she actually interacts with (far from the haters of the message boards) appreciate her sharing this.