Kevin Love and Mental Health in the NBA

Kevin Love, professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers, is helping to normalize the conversation around mental health in the NBA.

It was just after half-time during a home game that Kevin Love, a power-forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers, had a panic attack. “I felt like I was having cardiac arrest,” he says. Struggles in his personal life, pressure to perform, and years of undiagnosed mental illness caught up with him. He decided to share his struggle with depression and anxiety after another player in the NBA, DeMar DeRozan, opened up. “I didn’t want to suffer silently anymore,” says Love. Thanks to their revelations (and those of others), the NBA in August ramped up efforts to increase mental health resources for players. “Whether it’s you [suffering] or somebody at arm’s distance, we all know someone who has dealt with mental illness and we can make a huge impact,” says Love. Watch an Aspen Ideas conversation featuring Love and DeRozan.

Texting for Help

Nancy Lublin’s nonprofit tackles mental health issues like bullying and loneliness in a unique way — with a text. In six years, Crisis Text Line has processed more than 100 million messages. “There’s a lot of pain in America,” says Lublin. The organization’s volunteer counselors use texts to help people in crisis. Crisis Text Line also uses data technology to map where people are experiencing crisis so communities can help. Hear more in Good By Design: How Social Entrepreneurs Accelerate Possibility.

At Aspen Ideas and Aspen Ideas: Health in June, mental health was a topic of focus. Watch and listen to conversations about tackling mental health in developing nations; helping first responders, who are especially vulnerable; and using unconventional treatments, like MDMA, to help people with PTSD.

"Being vulnerable takes more bravery than seeming strong." — Hannah Lucas, Our Children Are in Trouble, Aspen Ideas: Health

Hannah Lucas is a high school student who co-created the NotOK app — a digital panic button for teens that stores up to five trusted contacts. Hannah and her brother, Charlie, developed the app when she was struggling with depression after being diagnosed with a chronic illness.