Naomi Osaka and Why Peace Should Not Have a Penalty

Naomi Osaka Withdraws from the French Open

Naomi Osaka, the 23-year-old tennis phenomenon and four-time Grand Slam winner created a maelstrom of conversation around mental wellness when she pulled out of the French Open with a statement, posted on Twitter, on May 31st. This came days after she announced that she would not participate in the required press conferences that take place after the games.

In the statement, Naomi revealed that she has been battling depression and anxiety since 2018, and she experiences “huge waves of anxiety” when speaking to a room full of reporters.

“Though the tennis press has always been kind to me (and I wanna apologize especially to all the cool journalists who I may have hurt), I am not a natural public speaker and get huge waves of anxiety before I speak to the world’s media,” she wrote. “I get really nervous and find it stressful to always try to engage and give you the best answers I can.”

Naomi knew there would be fines for her decision, but she didn’t intend to take the spotlight off of the tournament, and she didn’t expect to become a champion of the importance of protecting one’s peace and mental wellness.

I am not a tennis or sports fan, but when this story came across my news feed, I was immediately proud and supportive of Naomi’s stance.

I was also sad she had to make the decision to withdraw, and that more wasn’t done to support her instead of penalize her.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 27, 2019: 2019 Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka of Japan with Australian Open trophy during TV interview at Brighton Beach in Melbourne after her victory

Let’s Treat Mental Injuries like We Treat Physical Injuries

Although I’m not into sports heavily, I’ve been to a number of basketball, baseball and football games (for the friends and the food ya’ll). When a player is injured before or while playing, they are treated with the utmost care, tended to immediately and the only “penalty” that comes as a result is that they can’t play.

I can’t even call it a penalty because it’s a natural and humane response. They are not playing because they physically can’t or shouldn’t.

A huge part of being a champion and high achiever is attributed to physical preparedness and mental wellness.

If someone is not feeling mentally well enough to do his or her job in its entirety, they need support, understanding and accommodations. Not fines and harsher penalties.

There is no penalty when athletes sustain physical injuries, so why is there a penalty when athletes sustain mental injuries?

To be totally cliché, when this happens it adds insult to injury. We have to support the whole person, not just their skill, talent, persona or accomplishments. We have to support them through their struggles and provide accommodations for their unique needs.

Consider Accommodations for Mental Health Needs

I started my career in education sixteen years ago. In the few months before I would start teaching tenth grade high school English, I learned a lot about providing individualized instruction for the unique learners in my classroom.

I prepared lessons for students with various skills, abilities, and talents. Students who were in our Special Education program had IEPs (Individualized Education Plans) to ensure they had access to education in the way they needed it based on their different abilities (disabilities).

I’ve worked with students who used wheelchairs, had ADHD, ADD, were deaf or hard of hearing, or had mental, emotional or behavioral disabilities that required specific supports for them in the classroom.

When a student has an IEP, teachers use it to provide accommodations for that student. Accommodations are changes to the way a student learns the content. For example, if a student has ADHD, he or she may need extra time to do work or movement breaks during class.

As my students moved on to college and the real world, many of them experienced what Naomi Osaka is experiencing, a one-size fits all approach to doing things.

Why are we sticking to one size fits all traditions and rules when we know they do not fit everyone?

When I heard about Naomi Osaka’s decision to withdraw from the French Open because she couldn’t do the media coverage in the traditional way, I immediately thought about the many different ways she could have fulfilled her duties without penalty for protecting her mental health.

Sports are multi-million (or billion) dollar organizations that can adjust and make accommodations for players as needed. Did the powers that be ever consider allowing her to speak with just one reporter after the game? Could she do a live on a social media platform or have time to decompress and prepare before recording a one-on-one interview?

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 24, 2019: Grand Slam Champion Naomi Osaka of Japan celebrates victory after her semifinal match at 2019 Australian Open in Melbourne Park

Take Your Mental Health into Your Own Hands

Why was her mental health not handled with care, validated, and accommodated like physical injuries are?

There should not be a penalty for mental peace, emotional wellness and self-care.

I am glad Naomi chose herself, it gives so many other people the courage to do the same. I can’t go without mentioning the fact that Naomi is wealthy, which makes making a move like this a lot easier. For those of us who don’t have millions, there are still ways you can choose your peace.

Save your money (often called eff you cash, you can use to live if you need to leave a situation that does not work for you), work to create a life that accommodates your needs.

You may have to create a job (or jobs) to do this, and if you need a mental health day or week but feel like you can’t say that, say you have the flu.

Do what you need to do to be mentally well.

We don’t have to continue to do things as they have always been done if they don’t serve us in the ways we need. I hope Naomi’s brave decision inspires changes in how mental health is handled in the sports world. It has already done so in the real world.

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