The Back Road: Simone Biles, the Capitol police and mental health

The Island Now

What do Olympian Simone Biles and the police officers who defended the U.S. Constitution on Jan. 6 have in common? Heroism and trauma.

I was not surprised that these outstanding human beings were attacked by a bevy of feckless “armchair quarterbacks” for their admissions of emotional vulnerability.

When Biles opted out of the Olympic team competition she was called a “quitter” and “soft.” When four police officers told the story of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol Building they were referred to as “crisis actors” – fakers.

They are none of these.

They are heroes.

Former gymnast Andrea Orris delivered a message of support that challenged the idea that Simone Biles is not mentally tough.

She tweeted, “We are talking about the same girl who was molested by her team doctor throughout her entire childhood and teen years, won the world all-around championship title while passing a kidney stone, put her body through an extra year of training through the pandemic . . .That girl has endured more trauma by the age of 24 than most people will ever go through in a lifetime.”

Biles retweeted Orris’s message, affirming its veracity.

Four police officers, including a combat veteran who served in Iraq, testified before Congress on the same day Biles withdrew from team competition for mental health reasons. Their testimony was riveting and emotional. Tears were shed by the police officers and Congress members.

Each of the four men in blue, in uniform, publicly detailed the traumatic stress they experienced as the result of their lives being threatened for defending the Constitution and protecting some of the very same individuals who are now degrading them.

Revealing one’s vulnerability in the face of overwhelming odds and incalculable stress takes considerable courage and strength, especially in a world with a long and sordid history of stigmatizing people of all ages and backgrounds with mental health challenges.

The high suicide rate in the U.S. is not only a result of depression and circumstance, it is also a byproduct of a society that looks down its nose at people living with mental illness and would rather not see them.

Simone Biles and the Capitol police deserve our deepest gratitude, and not only for heroic acts like flying through the air with the greatest of ease or combatting terror when vastly outnumbered by a violent mob. We can admire such heroic acts from afar, but we are unlikely to ever repeat them.

However, all of us can identify with emotional pain and take a lesson from these heroes who openly revealed their vulnerability and humanity. And, in so doing, if the time comes that darkness enters our lives. we can do the same with our heads held up high.

And, our children will then follow.

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