Why should someones health care make international news?
In case you missed it, world-famous tennis superstar Naomi Osaka appeared in the media last month for retreating by Open French 2021, the main tennis court championship. Osaka, who had announced earlier that she would not attend press conferences during the tournament due to mental health concerns, was threatened after winning her first match in straight groups and fined $ 15,000. In response, Osaka withdrew from the tour the next day, describing her struggles with anxiety and depression on social media. it tweet the announcement of her departure garnered nearly 19,000 responses, more than 83,000 retweets and over 410,000 likes. Many athletes spoke in support of Osaka, sharing their thoughts on how athletes are often forced to suffer. On the contrary, many others hastened joke Osaka for standing up for herself, calling her a diva and narcissist. Undoubtedly, the negative responses that call Osaka privileged show an apathetic and perhaps naive perspective. In the process of fixation with play or embedded within institutions, many seem to have forgotten basic human etiquette. However, for someone struggling with mental health issues, any focus, whether positive or negative, can make these problems worse. The reason Osaka mentioned to overcome the press conferences was anxiety. Due to the apathy of the Open French organizers, as well as those who found time to ridicule Osaka publicly and subsequent media attention, Osaka has been the subject of constant press and speculation about her character, inclination and ability, which she sought to avoided. While they gained a lot of support, her posts on social media announcing her withdrawal from the tournament were not winning or festive. Osaka had no choice but to explain her decision and struggles with mental health for the millions of people who look after the attention followed. Much of the positive attention she received was still unwanted and continues to set her apart specifically for her mental health concerns. The more we talk about Naomi Osaka as an isolated mental health martyr, instead of trying to understand the systematic reasons behind Osakas decision, the more we make a spectacle of someone suffering. Lets be clear: Notifying her is important. In a guest essay for the New York Times, Kelli Mara Korducki write that Osaka has given a face to the growing and delayed revolt. Speaking above, Osaka has brought attention to issues within sports and removed some stigmas for future athletes who will choose to prioritize their mental health. Moreover, its importance in the media fosters conversations about the need to recognize mental health as a serious concern. What a great job today will end up being completely okay tomorrow hopefully. Still, normalizing everything in the public eye involves sacrificing what Naomi Osaka chose not to do. Osaka did not seek to be the face of a movement. Osaka, a dedicated activist for the reasons involved Black lives matter, is passionate about using its platform to raise its voice. This does not mean that she can be a lawyer for any case. Naomi Osaka is not just a famous athlete, but also a real person. As a human being, she opened up about her battles; as a celebrity, she has been isolated, criticized and analyzed by the media for her efforts. Dealing with the problems themselves is quite difficult. Osaka was in an unhealthy place when she announced her departure, and still is she recently announced retreat by Open German. Asking and mocking your battles by millions is a shocking experience that many people may not even realize. When we talk about Osakas horrific experiences at the Open French, what we need to do is question the systems that led to this unfortunate incident. We have to criticize the ridiculous apathetic and negligible practices of the organizers and how they refuse to admit any wrongdoing. We should try to stop tireless participation in celebrity culture, where people are turned into cartoons of a produced person, and, instead, we should treat others with respect for their health and boundaries. We must strive to understand how existing systems are negligible to our well-being. We have to ask how we manage to further perpetuate apathy towards well-being when we push the confession that Naomi Osaka is a diva or narcissist and completely ignore her battles. It is particularly troubling that in 2021, our society is in a place where welfare care makes international headlines and inspires such hatred. It should not be a big deal! If an athlete wants to stop playing for reasons of mental health, he should be treated as if he were out with a physical injury. Many Americans are scared to seek free time. Moreover, many can not afford it. Especially after the pandemic, from which many suffer additional medical debt, it may feel impossible to invest time or resources to take care of yourself. Not giving enough time to take care of our health has led people to primarily see self-care as a luxury than one necessity. However, mental health was in a difficult state all low times in 2020. It is ridiculously ridiculous that people are constantly expected to work in conditions that are actively detrimental to their relentless well-being, and when they stand up for themselves, they are actively targeted. Lets call it what it is: a violation of personal autonomy. Osaka left Open France out of necessity, citing self-care. We often tie taking care of ourselves with unnecessary purchases from the beauty industry rather than actually listening to our emotional, mental and physical needs. Instead of seeing self-care as something to reject, we need to remember what its supposed to be: something that all institutions and people must unequivocally respect. Meera Kumar is an Opinion Columnist and can be reached at [email protected]