Serena Williams says she wants to destigmatize mental health conversations whenever she can, so when she had her day off on Tuesday, she decided to share it with her fans.
“I’m not doing well today,” the tennis champ wrote Twitter. “It’s okay not to be okay. No one is okay every day. If you have a bad day, I’m with you. There’s always tomorrow. Love you.”
In February 2022, Williams sat down with Prince Harry on BetterUp to discuss mental health, showing how important the issue is to her.
Later that year, she spoke about her experience in a cover interview for Selena Gomez’s mental health platform Wondermind.
“Mental health, for me, is really learning to shut down,” she said.
“You know, I did this a few years ago, before mental health was a topic on everyone’s mind. It was like: OK, I’m going to shut myself down today. Just subconsciously, it’s something I’ve always doing things.
“So now that I know it’s important to put myself first – especially mentally – I always have moments of shut down. I have strict boundaries and I won’t let anyone cross them with my time limit.
“It’s too bad because I’m really not doing anything for myself. I’m terrible at it! I say it again and again: I’m working on it! But, more or less, at least prioritize what I need to do, And then when I shut down, I shut down.”
The tennis star also shared about her mental health after welcoming daughter Olympia.
She wrote at the time: “I’ve read several articles saying that postpartum emotions can last up to 3 years if left unaddressed. “Have a rough day or week – that’s okay – I do too! ! ! Tom is always there! ” she concluded.