Degree of Difficulty — Biles and Over Exposure
Simone Biles’ Olympic breakdown, or whatever you want to call it, serves to teach us again about the relationship between performer and audience but, at the same time, it can also extend our understanding of a sports injury. The two are related and a short examination of other athletes’ relationships with the public may offer insight.
For sports injuries, we’ve known about broken bones, sprains, and the like for a long time. Brain injury has only recently entered our field of view and many people may not be fully on board yet with the idea, though the concussion protocols in the NFL and rise of understanding of CTE or chronic traumatic encephalopathy have made a mark.
Biles looks fine and appears to act that way but what seems to be afflicting her is an injury of the mind, not of the body or the brain of which it is a part. Diseases of the mind have been studied for a very long time with little success until the last century or so when doctors and pharmacologists began researching and treating using a variety of chemicals, some of which mimic neurotransmitters or other brain bio-chemicals.
The point of this observation is not to launch an exhaustive examination of brain science or pharmacology which would bore most readers. The point, rather, is to open up some free space for Biles and others who might suffer from…
