While Noah Lyles isn’t the only athlete struggling with his mental health, he is one of the best known for his outspoken attitude of seeking therapy and resources and pushing other young athletes to do the same.
Lyles, a member of Team USA at the World Championships in Track and Field and a 2020 Olympic bronze medalist in the 200 meters, met Friday with Oregon Governor Kate Brown, Second Knight Douglas Emhoff and officials from the University of Oregon to share their experience and the importance of funding solutions to the mental health crisis.
“If someone is brave enough to speak up, it’s probably not a phase,” Lyles told the group.
Lyles said he never imagined being able to have this kind of discussion with government figures. When he initially spoke about his mental health on social media, his hope was to reach at least one person.
“I was constantly asking myself, ‘Why am I so angry? Why do I act this way with people who have not justified any type of aggression?’ Lyles said. “That was a sign. ‘It’s okay. I need to talk to someone’. “
Lyles’ mother, Keisha Caine, who was also a professional track athlete who trained for the Olympics, was the one who instilled the value of mental health in Lyles. Searching for her own identity outside of the competition, she sought therapy. Lyles said she recognized that her children would also need therapy and other mental health supports and enrolled them in therapy sessions at a young age.
UO College of Education Dean Laura Lee McIntyre said the effort to provide mental health services falls on the entire community.
“Not everyone has the privilege of having such an involved and dedicated father who has the time to do that. Not everyone has your mom,” McIntyre told Lyles.
“When we think about what we can do in our communities, we have to level the playing field.”
There also needs to be a push for the next generation to enter the field of behavioral health, he said, because there are currently not enough services.
The group agreed that more robust services are needed, which can be helped with additional funding.
Emhoff noted that destigmatization is a good starting point.
“A lot of times it’s ‘Nobody saw me. Nobody heard me. I felt alone,'” Emhoff said. “If we can de-stigmatize it and get it right and make it part of our normal everyday conversations…we can literally save lives.”
Brown praised Lyles for speaking out about his mental health journey and hopes others have the same courage.
“I think it’s amazing that we’re having this conversation today at the University of Oregon with the World Championships in Track and Field right out the window,” Brown said. “I think it’s incredibly important for brave athletes like Noah to speak up. I think it’s important for brave black men like Noah to speak up, because that’s what’s going to change our society.”
Different resources at work.
UO established the Ballmer Institute for Children’s Behavioral Health in March that has a focus on children’s mental health outreach. They are financed for $425 million with the “Ballmer Gift”.
Brown thanked the UO for its behavioral health research and the Ballmer Institute. The institute is intended to research and expand services to surrounding K-12 facilities.
Statewide, Brown added that the new 988 crisis and suicide helpline will launch on Saturday. The hotline offers 24-hour services.
New institute:The University of Oregon will create a new institute for behavioral health with a gift of $425 million
“Oregon has struggled in terms of addressing behavioral health for the last several years,” Brown said. “I am very, very pleased to see that our legislature was willing to commit significant resources to both diversifying our workforce, channeling the behavioral health workforce, as well as making sure our students have access to the important services they need to be successful. ”.
She and the other officials thanked the Biden-Harris administration for its commitment to expanding mental health resources.
The administration has invested nearly $4 billion in American Rescue Plan funds to expand access to mental health and substance use services. President Biden’s fiscal year 2023 budget also proposes more than $27 billion in discretionary funding and another $100 billion in mandatory funding over 10 years to transform behavioral health services.
“Behavioral health is an issue that affects us all,” Brown said. “We all have family members who have had problems. What I appreciate about Oregon is that this is an issue where we can put aside political differences and where we all agree (on this).”
Miranda Cyr reports on education for The Register-Guard. You can contact her at [email protected] or find her on Twitter @mirandabcyr.
