My take on this is that everybody deals with pressure. Pressure to perform. Whether it’s in school, work, sports, etc.…
To pull out at the most critical time of your performance - the most critical time when you’re needed - is crap IMO.
We all run into mental health issues. But to use it as a crutch is BS IMO.
Imagine if Tom Brady didn’t play in the Super Bowl because he was feeling pressure. Or Michael Jordan didn’t play in a game 7 because he was feeling pressure. Or a doctor didn’t perform a surgery because he was feeling pressure.
Jesus. We are so soft as a country.
When the people our children idolize are able to use pressure as an excuse to not perform or to back away from a challenge, it sends a horrible message to our youth. And it ill-prepares them for when they are on their own where quitting and excuses will cause them to lose jobs and crush their lives.
The problem with athletes that do this is that they don’t have real jobs. Once they reach a certain point in skill they are so coddled and doted upon that everybody will make up an excuse to protect them because of their potential.
We have a crisis in our country with weak minded youth.
PTSD - war survivors, assault survivors, Domestic abuse survivors - is a mental health crisis. Feeling pressure to perform is not.
Wait until they have to feed their families and they have a sales job.