How would you react if you found out your favorite athlete was struggling with anxiety, depression, or some other mental health condition?
In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Professional Baseball Faces Loaded Issue: Mental Health, Shirley Wang states:
Some fans might not feel much sympathy for the psychological burdens of professional baseball players -- athletes who typically earn huge salaries to do what many people would consider a dream job.
Sadly, that's probably true for many people - and not just of how they feel when they find out a professional athlete is anxious or depressed. Some people feel the same way when they find out other well-paid current and former athletes (like Ricky Williams, Herschel Walker, and others listed in Wang's articles) as well as rich actors, actresses, musicians, and other entertainers suffer from mental health problems.
It's as if the general population believes not only that money can fix everything, but also that people who have money have no reason to to feel anything but happy.
After all, they're rich, right? They're famous, and everyone loves them, right? If they're feeling down they can just buy something to make them happy or make some special appearance and listen to the crowds roar for them, right?
What a joke.