Cavaliers F Kevin Love is on a quest to "break down stigmas about men's mental health" and has partnered with Schick Hydro on a web series called "Locker Room Talk," holding "candid conversations" with other athletes like Michael Phelps and Paul Pierce, according to Tom Withers of the AP. No topic is "off limits" on the series. The first episode with Phelps premieres next month and "coincides with fundraising efforts for the Movember Foundation." Love views the series as an "important step in his personal development and a natural progression toward a broader platform for more mental health initiatives." His discussions with Phelps, Pierce and also Cavaliers F Channing Frye "cover a wide range of topics, including 'masculinity, traumatic events, women and their roles in our lives, thoughts of suicide, anxiety. Everything.'" Love hopes the frank discussions will "touch people to seek help and maybe encourage them to address their problems" (AP, 10/25).
OPENING UP: Appearing on NBC's "Today" on Thursday, Phelps discussed his battle with depression, saying growing up he "wasn't supposed to show weakness" because as an athlete, "you're supposed to be strong." Phelps: "My struggles continued on throughout my career and I hid them really well, but really going into my last Olympics I was just ready to open up and let everything come out" ("Today," NBC, 10/25).
