Toni Storm says people need to normalize talking about Mental Health
WWE's Toni Storm is no stranger to opening up about mental health issues, revealing in 2019 that she had been diagnosed with anxiety when she was 16 years old. In her most recent interview, Toni Storm revealed the importance of talking about mental health, and for society to normalize these important conversations.
The former NXT UK Women's Champion spoke to WWE Deutschland, saying that while WWE Superstars are larger than life, they are human. Toni Storm continued, saying that it's okay to talk to people because life isn't easy.
"It can be rough out there. Not everyone is having a good time at all times, even WWE Superstars. Yeah, I'm this 'big ol WWE Superstar.' At the same time, I'm a real person and it's okay to be human and talk to people and be yourself and normalize that. Normalize speaking out and talking to people and getting through your stuff because life ain't easy. I'm sure you all know that," said Storm. (h/t Fightful)
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Toni Storm deleted her social media accounts for a short period in 2019, following personal photos of her being leaked online. Toni Storm received tons of support from both WWE fans and personnel, with #WeSupportToniStorm trending on Twitter. Storm later revealed both the support of her fans and her strong and supportive "group of friends" have helped her through her challenges:
“I just shut down because I knew stuff had leaked. I was already in kind of a bad place mentally. I’ve always really struggled with depression, anxiety big time. I never really spoken out about it... Now I’m in a place where I can laugh about it with friends, but it was awful at the time."
Like Toni Storm, WWE Superstar Big E has opened up about mental health recently
Toni Storm is not the only WWE Superstar who has opened up about mental health, current WWE Champion Big E revealed in a recent interview that he has been battling mental health issues since he was 19 years old.
”It took me a long, long time. I try my best to never tell anyone, ‘this is the way you need to go to overcome mental illness.' We all have our own paths and what works for us. What worked for me; at 19 years old, I had a coach of mine, Rod Akin, who essentially forced me to go talk to someone. In many ways, it really saved my life. Even then, it took a while for me to get into the process," Big E said.
Big E. Comments On Using Meditation To Deal With His Mental Health, More: During a recent appearance on the “MackMania” podcast, WWE Champion Big E. commented on how he takes care of his mental health, using meditation, and more. You can check out some… dlvr.it/SD16Bc https://t.co/lae02gRGKK
"I think so much of how I was raised and just kind of the culture of what it meant to be a man. I always played football and was in the gym. What I was always told from peers and in the home, it was, ‘a man does not show vulnerability.' (...) ’Maybe that’s a protective device that allows you to get to a certain point in life without getting picked on too much and you build up these walls, but eventually it’s going to explode. It got to that point with me where it was ‘repress, repress, repress,’ but it’s not going anywhere. What has really helped me is just kind of leaning into the work," Big E added. (H/T- fightful)
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