The episode not only forced the NBA power forward to leave the game at halftime, it forced him to open up about his struggle with mental health.
In an essay for the Players’ Tribune published Tuesday, the 29-year-old athlete detailed what happened when he was hospitalized mid-game in November, how he suffered silently and why he’s speaking out about mental health now.
“It came out of nowhere. I’d never had one before. I didn’t even know if they were real,” Love wrote of his panic attack.
“But it was real — as real as a broken hand or a sprained ankle. Since that day, almost everything about the way I think about my mental health has changed.”
While Love detailed his panic attack in November, his essay didn’t mention what happened when he left a Jan. 22 game due to an undisclosed illness and later missed a practice. His teammates were reportedly upset over his absences, though things settled down once Love explained to the team during a meeting what was going on, ESPN reported at the time.
After Love’s essay was published, Cleveland.com reported Tuesday that Love had disclosed his panic attacks during that meeting.
Love said he had recovered from the November incident and performed successfully at a game two days later, but something else had begun troubling him: “Why was I so concerned with people finding out?”
Source: huffingtonpost
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