Serena Williams recently shared an honest post about her mental health struggles, telling her legions of followers that “it’s okay not to be okay” as she pursues the comfort of motherhood.
Mental health has been one of the most prevalent topics affecting many teenagers and young adults in the modern world. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that one in eight people worldwide suffers from a mental health problem that may affect their overall health.
Tennis players are not immune to mental health issues, which sometimes tend to have a lasting impact on their performance on the court. Serena Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam winner who is now retired, shared a tweet on X saying she was “not okay.”
Although Williams didn’t directly address battling mental health issues, his message could be perfectly summed up as a way to cheer up those battling the disease. People who suffer from mental health challenges stay quiet most of the time for fear of being seen as weak or misunderstood by society.
“I didn’t have a good day. It’s okay not to have a good day. No one has a good day every day. If you have a bad day, I’ll be with you. There’s always tomorrow. Love you.”
The legendary American’s tweet on Monday received over 1 million views on X, with several fans standing by her side to express support for what Serena is going through.
On Tuesday, Selena shared a post on the same platform in which she could be seen holding her daughter, Adira River Ohanian, and wrote, “This makes me so happy.” Not long ago , the 42-year-old revealed her eye-opening experience as a mother of two children, admitting that “it is definitely not easy to raise two children.”
A growing number of tennis players are bravely facing their fears when it comes to mental health issues to raise awareness. Chief among them is Japanese star Naomi Osaka, who will return to the tour in 2024.
Osaka has experienced the darkest depths of mental health struggles. Her meteoric rise was overshadowed by her mental health and a difficult life until she finally shed everything that became a burden. After a downward spiral, the 26-year-old has appeared on the cover of Time magazine as a spokesperson for athletes’ mental health.