“That Stuff Can Be Ugly:” Black Women in Sport, Stigma, and Public Mental Health Disclosures

Abstract

This research investigates Black women athletes’ long-form public mental health disclosures (LFPMHDs). We conducted a phenomenological thematic analysis and drew from Orbe’s co-cultural theory to illuminate the communicative practices and orientations that Black WNBA players rely on as co-cultural group members. We argue that the LFPMHDs in the current study confront multiple layers of stigma related to race, gender, and mental illness while confronting limitations of the “mental health conversation” within and outside of sport. Our phenomenological thematic analysis revealed that Black WNBA players used LFPMHDs to: (a) communicate self and model the risks of intimate social contact with mental illness; (b) educate others by retelling their story, claiming agency over mediated appropriations of their self-disclosure narratives; and (c) narrate triggers and breaking points that coincide with their past adoption of nonassertive communication approaches.