Former Olympic swimmer Samantha Arsenault Livingston helped strengthen the mental fortitude of nearly 200 young female athletes at Valley Stream on Saturday as she discussed the demons she battled after winning the gold medal she had always dreamed of.
In the gymnasium at Valley Stream Memorial Middle School on Saturday, Livingston taught students how to activate their brains to help them understand that they are not the sum of their successes and failures, and that their worth is not dependent on either. I've come prepared with some exercises to help you.
To illustrate her point, she raised two fists in the air. The left fist symbolizes the self, and the right fist represents the individual's actions in the world. She says her right fist can move up and down depending on the hits and misses in her life, like passing a test or forming a team. My left fist, which means I am immovable. She emphasized the importance of self-respect.
Livingston, who won a gold medal at the 2000 Olympics, said, “I wish I had been able to escape some of that intense suffering, and I would like to share these words that I wish I had heard.''
Livingston said he felt hollow and empty after stepping off the Olympic podium with highest honors in Sydney, Australia, fresh off his record-setting 4×200 freestyle relay in 2000.
She said she heard her inner critic mocking her. Enough to be an Olympian. ”
That moment was just the tip of the iceberg. She talked about the harassment she suffered during her college years, her shoulder injury, and her eating disorder, which drove her further into despair. She was contemplating suicide. Therapy has turned her life around, she said.
Medical experts previously told Newsday that Long Island teens are suffering from declining mental health. A CDC survey of 17,000 teenage girls released last year found that nearly 3 in 5 teenage girls nationwide felt persistent sadness in 2021, and 1 in 3 was seriously considering suicide. Girls felt twice as much sadness as boys.
Another study released last month found that national prescriptions for medications to deal with depression and anxiety among young people have surged by nearly 64% since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. There was found.
Some of the girls left with a better understanding of mental health.
“It's important that we do this as a team, because you know they're performing well physically, but you don't know what's going on behind the scenes,” said Valley Stream North High School said Natalie Lind, 18, a senior and track and field athlete.
Lili Dolan, 17, a senior on the Valley Stream North High School softball team, approached Livingston after a brief one-on-one discussion.
“I thought she taught us a lot of good strategies for dealing with different things in sports, because a lot of people don't talk too much about not just their grades, but what they're feeling in the moment. Because I feel like that,” Dolan said. .
