Mental Health Moments: Taylor Ricci and Nathan Braaten, Dam Worth It Co.
Taylor Ricci and Nathan Braaten are the founders of Dam Worth It Co.! Read about their mission to utilize the influential platform of sport to create a community dedicated to ending the stigma around mental health.
Tell me a little bit about what led to Dam Worth It Co. - when did mental health become a priority for you and at what point did that turn into cultivating a community around your mission?
Taylor: Within the span of 12 months both Nathan and I lost teammates to suicide while we were student-athletes at Oregon State. This loss, while seemingly insurmountable at first, led to our passion to reduce stigma around mental health. It was simply the question, “what can we do so another team doesn’t have to experience the same loss we have?” and after 5 hours at a coffee shop in Corvallis, Oregon we created the foundation of what is today called Dam Worth It!.
Over the past 3 years we have seen the impact Dam Worth It has had on OSU’s campus, and after receiving a PAC-12 grant that allowed us to bring the story of Dam Worth It across the conference, we realized that we needed to expand Dam Worth It beyond the walls of Oregon State. With Dam Worth It still being a mental health initiative at OSU, we have now incorporated it into a non-profit to help us bring Dam Worth It to campuses across the country!
How do you personally prioritize your mental health? How has COVID impacted this for you?
Taylor: Growing up in the world of gymnastics, and emphasis on physical health was always placed on my everyday life. From eating the right foods, getting enough sleep, doing the proper physical training and rehabilitation, the need to invest into my physical body to achieve my best results was critical. When I started my journey in NCAA athletics this focus also started to be on mental health, and how mental training and rehabilitation were just as important in achieving optimal health and wellbeing.
During the COVID-19 pandemic the toll taken on my mental health has definitely been significant. Social isolation, the added stress and anxiety of simple things like going to the grocery store, being in medical school and spending hours on end trying to vaccinate as many people as possible all have taken a toll. That being said, just like as an athlete I have tried to remind myself to “go back to the basics.” Things like trying to be physically active everyday, listening to music or meditations, spending free time I do have with other people in a social distance setting all have helped my mental health abundantly this past year. I think perhaps the biggest thing though has been recognizing the message I try to share everyday with Dam Worth It which is “it’s okay to not be okay” and giving myself the ability to accept that for myself during these trying times.
Why do you think stigma exists, and what can we do to combat it?
Taylor: In the world of athletics I think that there are so many influences that glorify success and criticize failure creating this culture around mental health that has the expectation of “mental toughness” and overall contribute to stigma. For some reason, our society has painted this picture where mental toughness and mental health contradict one another, making it hard to accept that you can be struggling with your mental health and still be considered mentally tough. It has been really exciting to see this narrative start to shift, and I think a large part of this has been people being vulnerable and normalizing mental health by sharing their story. Seeing individuals like Michael Phelps opening up about depression and then winning olympic gold, seeing your teammates go to counseling and then becoming a NCAA All-American, all of these help normalize mental health.
At what stages should someone seek professional help for their mental health?
Taylor: I definitely recognize that I am not a mental health professional so can only answer this from personal experience, but that being said, one of the biggest things I learned as an athlete was that I didn’t need to have a diagnosed mental health illness to seek professional help for my mental health. When I first started going to therapy as a student-athlete I remember purposely leaving my gymnastics backpack in my car so that others wouldn’t see it as I walked into the building. I would say things to myself like, “Taylor you are a scholarship athlete, you’re a good student and in the starting line up for a top 10 program, you don’t deserve to be depressed or anxious.” These feelings for a long time took control over my acceptance of professional help but at the end of the day I went through a series of events, felt a series of emotions that I couldn’t resolve on my own. The day I walked into the counseling and psychological services center with my gymnastics backpack on I like to think is the first true day that I believed the statement, “it’s okay to not be okay.” While not everyone struggling with their mental health needs professional support, anyone struggling with their mental health CAN benefit from professional support.
One of your core values at Dam Worth It is embracing vulnerability. What does this look like to you, and how can others follow suit in bringing vulnerability and empathy into the world?
Nathan: Dam Worth It is all about embracing vulnerability. This has been a vital part about what we do because vulnerability is the first step to creating genuine connections and a community that cares about mental health. For me, vulnerability takes shape in many different ways. Over the years, we have done several big demonstrations of vulnerability, whether that be releasing documentaries of our mental health stories or presenting our stories in front of a crowd. However, these are not what I would call “everyday vulnerability”.
For me, it is incredibly important to be vulnerable in a bunch of small ways every single day. This can be as simple as being really honest when a friend or family member asks how we are doing, instead of just responding with “Good, how are you?”. There are so many ways that we can practice everyday vulnerability and that is what I want to encourage to other people. I think there can be a perception that vulnerability has to be some huge demonstration, but in reality we have tons of opportunities every single day to bring vulnerability into our lives. The beautiful thing about vulnerability, too, is that it spreads and it encourages more vulnerability from others. It has a ripple effect! What I would encourage people to do is be conscious of the moments in your day where you can bring small moments of vulnerability, because these moments can create true connections.
What does success look like when someone is putting their mental health first?
Nathan: I think that some people would think that the answer to this question is that your mental health is great all the time. However, in my opinion, this is not what success looks like when putting their mental health first. What I would say is that success when putting mental health first means that you are truly conscious and accepting of where you are at in your mental health journey. The reality is that everyone is going to have tough days and everyone is going to have moments where they are struggling with their mental health. Our mental health is a constant journey and that journey will not always be linear. For me, the days that I feel successful in my mental health journey is when I am not striving to change the way I am feeling, but I instead accept where I am at and I act in ways that can help me process those emotions. For me, exercise and physical activity have always been a great way for me to process and move forward in my mental health journey. What I would encourage for others is that they are graceful and accepting of where they are at in their journey and to find the things that help them process and move forward in that journey, even if it is in very small ways.
Dam Worth It emphasizes story-telling as an imperative, driving factor in destigmatizing mental illness. Is there any advice you’d give to someone who wants to use their voice to make a change, but don’t know where to start?
Nathan: Storytelling is so central to what we do at Dam Worth It. One of the first things that Taylor and I did when we decided we wanted to share our story was we discussed the best mental health practices for storytelling with our Counseling and Psychological Services at Oregon State University. This was an incredibly important step for us since we were not mental health professionals and it gave us the tools we needed to tell our story in a powerful and positive way. This is the first thing I would suggest! And then the second thing I would say is that your story is incredibly powerful and it can truly inspire and change the lives of other people. Do not underestimate the power of your story! You don’t have to start sharing your story with a huge audience for it to be impactful. Sharing your story to a close friend or family member can make just as a big of a difference.
My advice would be that once you are ready to share your story, find the platform that is right for you (in person with a friend/family member, social media, podcast, blogging), and share! When you keep your story inside, the only person it can benefit or hurt is you, but when you share that story, you take control over it and it can truly impact the lives of others. Also, there are all sorts of amazing organizations and initiatives (like Hilinski’s Hope, Dam Worth It, and The Hidden Opponent) that are always looking to elevate the stories of others. For example, we have a whole section of our website where people can share their stories with us (www.damworthit.co/share-your-story)! At the end of the day, if you are someone who is thinking about using your voice and your story to make a difference, do it! You’d be amazed at the difference it can make.
Anything else you want to add?
Nathan: All I will add is that everyone is Dam Worth It! I will say that we are one big global community and we owe it to each other to support and pick each other up. Go check on a friend or family member today. You would be amazed how much it can mean to someone when you ask them how they truly are!
