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KEVIN LOVE OF THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS TALKS PANIC ATTACKS AND HIS PERSONAL STRUGGLE FOR MENTAL HEALTH

Everyday life has tons of pressure, so try to imagine dealing with the kind of pressures that come in professional sports. Now Kevin Love of the Cleveland Cavaliers has spoken out to Time about his struggle with panic disorder, and why he didn’t speak out for help at first.  Love said he kept quiet about having panic attacks because of what he said was the “playbook” of being a man. He first suffered a panic attack in a game, and “it came out of nowhere. I’d never had one before. I didn’t even know if they were real. 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.”    Love got into therapy and thankfully has gone public to let many people know they’re not alone. “No matter what our circumstances, we’re all carrying around things that hurt – and they can hurt us if we keep them buried inside,” he continues. “Not talking about our inner lives robs us of really getting to know ourselves and robs us of the chance to reach out to others in need.”    Love was encouraged to talk about his anxiety by DeMar DeRozan, the guard for the Toronto Raptors, who also talked about depression and anxiety openly as well. As Love told USA Today, “Just by sharing what he shared, DeMar probably helped some people – and maybe a lot more people than we know – feel like they aren’t crazy or weird to be struggling with depression. His comments helped take some power away from that stigma, and I think that’s where the hope is.”    
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