Lydia Jacoby was a breakout star in the pool for the United States at the last Summer Games, earning a gold medal in the 100-meter breaststroke and a relay silver. Part of what comes to mind from those heady days in Tokyo? 맥스카지노�People talking about post-Olympic depression,맥스카지노� she said.She was 17 at the time, and her initial response when other athletes brought up the topic was: 맥스카지노�Well, that doesn맥스카지노�t apply to me.맥스카지노�맥스카지노�I essentially did not understand the topic of depression,맥스카지노� she said. 맥스카지노�It wasn맥스카지노�t until after the Games that I was like, 맥스카지노�Oh. ... OK. Yeah, I맥스카지노�m feeling this a little.맥스카지노�맥스카지노�Jacoby, who didn't qualify for the 2024 Olympics, is now fully aware of the phenomenon, went through it, moved past it and discusses it casually, all of which points to the way things have changed in just a few years when it comes to mental health.As the Paris Games open on Friday, followed by the Paralympics beginning Aug. 28, athletes have more access than ever to resources in that once-taboo realm and sound more willing than ever to use them. That seems particularly significant given that Jessica Bartley, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee's senior director of psychological services, says about half of the country's athletes at the past two Olympiads were flagged for at least one of the following: anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, eating disorders, substance use or abuse.맥스카지노�We really are just a part of the conversation now,맥스카지노� Bartley said, 맥스카지노�and not an afterthought or something when someone맥스카지노�s struggling.맥스카지노�Among the key questions now: Is everyone going to seek the help they need? And is enough help available?As for the first, Bartley said: "I맥스카지노�d like to think we맥스카지노�re over the hump, but we맥스카지노�re still not quite there. I feel like there is still some stigma. I think there맥스카지노�s still some connections to 맥스카지노�weakness.맥스카지노�맥스카지노�And the second? 맥스카지노�I do think there still could be more,맥스카지노� track star Gabby Thomas said, 맥스카지노�but, I mean, they맥스카지노�re there.맥스카지노�Olympians Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka and Michael Phelps opened doorsThree Olympians 맥스카지노� Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka, who participated in the last pandemic-delayed Summer Games, and are returning, and retired swimmer Michael Phelps, who has more medals than anyone in any sport 맥스카지노� provided some of the loudest voices in the growing global conversation in sports and society at large about the importance of protecting, gauging and improving the state of one맥스카지노�s mind as much as one맥스카지노�s body.Phelps spoke about having suicidal thoughts at the height of his career and helped produce a documentary about depression among Olympians. He also called on the International Olympic Committee and USOPC to do more.맥스카지노�I do think there맥스카지노�s something to be said when a lot of really, really good athletes kind of talk about the same issue. I know all athletes don맥스카지노�t feel the same way; you have to be a certain type or in a certain head space. Some people just feel things differently,맥스카지노� said Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion and former No. 1-ranked player in tennis who lit the cauldron in Japan.She's been forthcoming about her bouts with anxiety and depression and was among the first sports figures to take mental-health breaks away from competition, paving the way for others.Osaka, in turn, said she felt 맥스카지노�very heard맥스카지노� when she listened to Biles and Phelps.맥스카지노�I맥스카지노�m pretty sure a lot of different athletes also felt heard," Osaka said. "They didn맥스카지노�t feel like it was a weakness or anything like that, so I맥스카지노�m really glad we all talked about it.맥스카지노�Biles, who redefined excellence in gymnastics and picked up seven Olympic medals along the way, drew attention and, from some, criticism, for pulling out of events in Tokyo because of a mental block 맥스카지노� known in the gymnastics world as 맥스카지노�the twisties맥스카지노� 맥스카지노� that made her afraid to attempt certain dangerous moves.That her explanations of what went awry came in such a public setting, as THE biggest star in Tokyo, only made it all the more meaningful to other athletes.맥스카지노�She didn맥스카지노�t have to,맥스카지노� said basketball player Breanna Stewart, a WNBA MVP. 맥스카지노�She used her platform to help others.맥스카지노�What Biles did resonated with athletes like canoeist Nevin Harrison, a gold medalist in Tokyo, who said 맥스카지노�anxiety, fear, stress ... are all going to be huge parts in competing at such a high level.맥스카지노�Biles made them see that there can be a way out.맥스카지노�I was, at one time, in those shoes," boxer Morelle McCane said, "where I was just like, 맥스카지노�It맥스카지노�s do or die! It맥스카지노�s do or die!맥스카지노�"How different is it for today's Olympians?Janet Evans won four swimming golds at the 1988 and 1992 Games and recalls the never-easing pressure to perform. In her day, she says, there wasn't nearly the empathy or outlets for help available as there are for today's Olympians.맥스카지노�We didn맥스카지노�t talk about the struggles. No one taught me that it was OK to lose, right? I mean, I was Janet Evans, and when I went to a swim meet, I was supposed to win,맥스카지노� said Evans, the chief athlete officer for the 2028 Los Angeles Games. 맥스카지노�We talk about it now and we recognize it with our athletes. And I think that is an important first step."Which means that even 38-year-old rugby player Perry Baker has seen changes since his Olympic debut at Rio de Janeiro in 2016.맥스카지노�You had to tough it out. You kind of felt by yourself. You kind of felt like you couldn맥스카지노�t talk to anyone,맥스카지노� said Baker, who briefly was with the NFL맥스카지노�s Philadelphia Eagles.The balance national Olympic committees must strike between caring about athletes as people but making sure the medals pile up is 맥스카지노�threading a needle,맥스카지노� Evans acknowledged.맥스카지노�We should go to the Olympics and Paralympics and win medals. But I don맥스카지노�t think that should be at the cost of how we맥스카지노�re preparing our athletes for the future,맥스카지노� Evans said. 맥스카지노�Both can happen.맥스카지노�That's where Bartley and her counterparts in other countries and at the IOC come in.The Beijing Winter Games two years ago were the first with extra credentials issued for national Olympic committees to bring athlete welfare officers 맥스카지노� registered mental health professionals or qualified safeguarding experts 맥스카지노� and more than 170 from more than 90 countries will be in Paris.맥스카지노�We didn맥스카지노�t have it in Tokyo, and now it will be implemented for every Games,맥스카지노� said Kirsty Burrows, head of an IOC unit focused on athletes맥스카지노� mental health. 맥스카지노�Because we really see the impact.맥스카지노�There will be a 24/7 helpline with mental health counselors who speak more than 70 languages, a program started for the Beijing Games but now available to every Olympian and Paralympian until four years after the event. There's also AI to monitor athletes맥스카지노� social media for cyberbullying, and a 맥스카지노�mind zone맥스카지노� in the athletes village with a yoga area, low lighting, comfortable seating and other tools 맥스카지노�dedicated to disconnection, decompression,맥스카지노� Burrows said.The USOPC went from six mental-health providers 3 1/2 years ago to 15 now; 14 will be in France. Last year, 1,300 Team USA athletes participated in more than 6,000 therapy sessions set up by the USOPC.맥스카지노�I expect the numbers to be even higher," Bartley said, 맥스카지노�especially in a Games year.맥스카지노�