Cavs’ Kevin Love sharing his mental health struggles helped give a local reporter courage to do the same

Cleveland Cavaliers star big Kevin Love has previously shared how he has struggled with mental health problems, but since Love wrote a piece on that, he’s done an amazing job of spreading awareness of the importance of mental health. Also, one person Love’s piece really struck a chord with is a local sports reporter in Hayden Grove, who I applaud in sharing his own mental health struggles after getting the idea from Love doing so.

At this point, it’s abundantly clear that when it comes to the Cleveland Cavaliers, big man Kevin Love is the team’s best player.

He’s a five-time All-Star, NBA champion, and when healthy, his inside-out scoring presence makes those around him clearly more effective, in large part because of the spacing Love provides.

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He has averaged 17.1 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game with the Cavaliers since being traded to Cleveland by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the summer of 2014, but it goes beyond basketball with Love, who has played an integral role in spreading awareness of the importance of mental health.

Love originally penned an article for The Players’ Tribune talking about his mental health struggles, and even chronicled how he suffered panic attacks amid the 2017-18 Cleveland Cavaliers’ season, and for reference, that piece was called “Everyone Is Going Through Something.”

Love touched on how some of why he was compelled to write that piece was from him reading about then-Toronto Raptors star (and now of the San Antonio Spurs via reported trade) DeMar DeRozan opening up about his struggles with depression, and so, piggybacking off of that sort of inspiration-related thing in one sharing about their struggles with mental health, on Thursday, which is World Mental Health Day, a local reporter, Hayden Grove of Cleveland.com, shared his story about how Love inspired him to talk about his mental health issues.

Grove shared how after Love wrote his article, “Love tweeted an email address and asked people to share their mental health illness stories with him, promising he would read every one.”

So taking that into account, Grove then hit on how he was one of those that did email Love, and in that email, he emphasized how in the second semester of his senior year, he became a kid who was truly not himself, and it was really unfortunate to hear that one day when Grove was supposed to get on a plane to do a college visit, he had a panic attack and wouldn’t leave his bed to get on the plane and do that.

That then resulted in Grove (per the email he sent Love) getting medicated for what was “diagnosed as depression,” which then seemed to work for a while for Grove, but then when Grove was a sophomore at The Ohio State University, things changed for the worse again, with him becoming obsessive.

Here’s a passage from Grove’s email on that, and this was clearly so tough for Grove, and him sharing this sort of thing took a ton of courage, and I applaud him for sharing this email.

"“I was fine for a while, but slowly something happened.I felt different this time around. I became very obsessive – obsessive about my routine, about my work at the student newspaper, about my weight (which I was trying to keep off), about my grades and much more.Again, I wouldn’t eat, but this time it was by choice. Having struggled my whole life with my weight, I learned through the years how to eat to stay relatively thin. This time, however, I completed with myself to see how much weight I could lose. It became my only obsession.It got to the point where I was working out two hours a day and eating maybe 800 calories just so that I wouldn’t pass out.When I came home for Christmas, I barely laid eyes on my parents before they sent me to my psychiatrist and to another doctor. At 6-foot-3, I weighed 159 pounds. Worse? I thought I looked good.I was diagnosed with anorexia and obsessive compulsive disorder. Basically, I was told that my mind isn’t one that can go without medication. I don’t produce enough serotonin to have a happy mind on my own. So, without hesitation, I started taking the medication.”"

From there, Grove would go on to say that since that time, he’s been in a good place (and hopefully is currently, too), and he then said this in relation to him then knowing of his mental health struggles, which really makes sense.

"“If anything, that’s what my mental health issues have made me: grateful. I know how incredibly awful I felt when not well, so to feel well day in and day out is a blessing.”"

Grove would also then thank Love and show his appreciation for Love sharing his story in a big way, and after showcasing the entirety of the email he sent to Love, Grove then in his piece published on Thursday about his mental health struggles, discussed how if him sharing his story can impact even one person, it’s really meaningful and also, Grove thanked Love and expressed how the Cleveland Cavaliers star sharing his story with so many greatly helped him be inspired to “finally share this story with a wide audience.”

Overall, this was really touching to me.

It’s been incredible to hear that Love has done so much to spread the awareness of the importance of mental health, as evidenced by him launching the Kevin Love Fund, and making appearances on countless shows, talk radio shows, and other panels advocating for spreading the importance of mental health, and Grove sharing how Love telling his story inspired Grove to share his now publicly has to mean so much to so many people.

Thank you again, Hayden for sharing your story, and I hope you’re doing great, and I’m a big fan, by the way!

Also, again, thank you, K-Love for telling your truth, as it’s I’m sure helped you become a tremendous leader and someone Cleveland Cavaliers teammates, and so many others, can go to.

Additionally, for those reading this, in reference to Thursday being World Mental Health Day, I hope you are all doing outstanding physically and emotionally.

Along with that, courtesy of Grove, who brought these references up in his article, here are mental health options if you are of need locally: “Mental Health Services in Cuyahoga County, Mental Health Services Board, NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Greater Cleveland and The Nord Center.”

Once again, thanks so much for telling your story, Hayden, and thanks again for those resources around the Northeast Ohio area involving mental health!

Again, thank you as always, readers, and I hope you are all feeling your very best.