茄子直播

'This is about caring for each other': Fred VanVleet talks mental health at 茄子直播's Goldring Centre

Fred VanVleet in his Raptors uniform
Fred VanVleet of the Toronto Raptors was one of several panelists at The Right Conversation event held at the Goldring Centre on Tuesday (photo by Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

Toronto Raptors point guard Fred VanVleet knows adversity. From grinding it out in summer leagues after missing the 2016 NBA draft to chipping a tooth in game four of the NBA finals, VanVleet has regularly displayed the mental toughness preached to him since he was five years old. But being told over and over again to be tough, to leave your emotions off the court, takes a toll on an individual鈥檚 mental wellness.

鈥淚 was closed off for a long time,鈥 VanVleet said during a panel talk he gave at the University of Toronto鈥檚 Goldring Centre for High Performance earlier this week. 

茄子直播鈥檚  partnered with the nonprofit organization Everyone Has a Story to bring the event, dubbed The Right Conversation, to campus. Moderated by Corey Yeager, a psychotherapist for the Detroit Pistons, the talk featured VanVleet, Toronto Raptors Assistant Coach Brittni Donaldson, shoe designer Dominic Ciambrone, musician JP Saxe, entrepreneur Jaclyn Genovese and JD DuBois, the founder of Everyone Has a Story and the former Toronto Raptors assistant coach.

鈥淲e started this panel process to normalize this conversation,鈥 Dubois said, referring to the stigmatization of mental health.

Dubois founded Everyone Has a Story in 2016 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The organization鈥檚 mandate is to 鈥減romote compassion for others one story at a time.鈥 This involves social outreach programs like the Lunch Bag Project, where 2,000 lunch bags were distributed to the homeless, as well as education initiatives such as the mental wellness panel. Dubois uses his NBA connection to draw in big names 鈥 like VanVleet 鈥 to talk about issues they鈥檝e encountered and how they鈥檝e dealt with it.

VanVleet was joined on stage by  musician JP Saxe, shoe designer Dominic Ciambrone, entrepreneur Jaclyn Genovese,Toronto Raptors Assistant Coach Brittni Donaldson, Everyone has a Story founder and former Toronto Raptors Assistant Coach JD Dubois and Corey Yeager, a psychotherapist for the Detroit Pistons (photo by Jimmy Wang)

Yeager opened the panel by having each speaker touch on a mental health issue they鈥檝e encountered. Ciambrone鈥檚 confession cut the deepest, admitting that his recent work schedule had taken a toll on his mental wellness. 鈥淚鈥檝e been travelling for the last year straight,鈥 he said. 鈥淩ecently, it鈥檚 been getting to me.鈥 

Ciambrone has struggled with mental health issues in the past. At age 24, clouded by a haze of drug abuse and anxiety, Ciambrone jumped out of a second-story window. While recovering, he was medicated and left in psychiatric care. 鈥淭hey told me I鈥檇 be on the medication for the rest of my life,鈥 he said. But since then, Ciambrone has managed to put the medication behind him by making mental wellness a priority.

DuBois also opened up about his encounters with mental health. As a young man growing up in Los Angeles, he saw a number of his childhood friends murdered. But there were no support systems in place to help him deal with the trauma. 鈥淥ne of my coaches 鈥 I won鈥檛 mention his name 鈥 used to tell us the only funeral we were allowed to miss practice for was our own,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he community that I come from, when it comes to mental health, is underprivileged, over-diagnosed and underserved.鈥

Yeager then transitioned the conversation to ways in which people can improve their mental health.

Genovese brought up the importance of vulnerability. 鈥淭he more vulnerable I鈥檝e found I am, the more intimate I can be with a person,鈥 she said. The panelists all agreed that talking to someone about your issues is the best way to bolster mental wellness.

VanVleet, however, clarified that mental wellness is not synonymous with happiness. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 feel like I have to be happy all the time,鈥 he said. Instead, he preached letting go of the things you can鈥檛 control and only worrying about the things you can.

One of the things you can control is being aware and supportive of other people鈥檚 mental wellness. 鈥淚 ask my guys how they鈥檙e doing. It sounds simple, but you鈥檇 be surprised,鈥 VanVleet said. 鈥淭his is about caring for each other. It鈥檚 hard to care about people you don鈥檛 know, and it鈥檚 hard to know someone if you don鈥檛 talk to them.鈥 

The panel was followed by a Q&A and a musical performance by JP Saxe.    


 鈥 and if there is an immediate risk, call 911 or Crisis Services Canada at 1-833-456-4566.

The following are some of the mental health services available to students on all three campuses: 

Downtown Toronto:  (416-978-8030), located at 

茄子直播 Scarborough:  416-287-7065 

茄子直播 Mississauga:  905-828-5255

Round-the-clock support

Free 24/7 support is available outside the university. Students, staff and faculty can speak to a trained crisis worker at any hour of the day.

 1-866-925-5454

 416-929-5200 

 416-408-HELP (4357)

 at 250 College Street

 416-360-0486

1-844-451-9700. Immediate support is available in 35 languages and ongoing support in 146 languages.

Appointed faculty and staff have access to the, offered through Homewood Health, online and by phone at 1-800-663-1142.

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