Former ASU guard goes public with her issues
As Robbi Ryan’s mental health improved over her final two years at Arizona State, she wanted a way to share her journey, both for herself and to help others.
How to do so, and the timing, were the unknowns.
Then Ryan’s basketball career ended prematurely due to the coronavirus pandemic, which during the ensuing self-isolation quarantine has brought more attention on mental health. With May being National Mental Health Awareness Month, observed in the U.S. since 1949, Ryan decided to go public with her story.
She used material from her journal to craft a story about how anxiety and depression “outscored the toughest players in the nation to win the top spot as my biggest opponent.”
The 22-year-old explained how her mental illness became a major issue for her in the summer of 2017 between her freshman and sophomore years at ASU. “I was unmotivated, always tired and I didn’t really care about anything,” she wrote. “I felt nothing. I was blank.”
Eventually, Ryan got up the courage to confide in trainer Diana Padilla, who sent her to team doctor Shanyn Lancaster. “She wanted me to see a counselor that day,” Ryan said. “I saw her later and told her I’m tired, I don’t think I’m going to go. She made me go because she knew I probably needed it and I probably wasn’t going to go unless somebody made me.”
Nothing came easy for Ryan as a sophomore even while starting 29 games and earning All Pac-12 honorable mention. She recalls a game at Oregon in January 2018 when “it was like I wasn’t even playing. I was on the outside looking in.”
She was being treated for depression, including different medications, the fourth of which finally helped to address a condition called anhedonia, an inability to experience pleasure. By the end of her junior season, Ryan was feeling better and that carried through as a senior when she made All Pac-12, surpassed 1,100 points in career scoring and worked toward a master’s degree (her undergraduate degree is in psychology).
“Growing up, I always tried to be really rough,” said Ryan, a highly decorated three-sport athlete at Sheridan (Wyoming) High School. “I just carried that with me and thought I would be fine and I could just work through it by myself. That wasn’t really reality. It was definitely an adjustment, but having the support system I have at ASU really helped me.”
Charli Turner Thorne, with 26 years of head coaching experience, recognized at some point that Ryan was struggling.
“You do notice,” Turner Thorne said. “When it got to a point where it was not just a bout of anxiety but more anxiety couple with depression significantly affecting her her quality of life. Over my years, I’ve had some high profile kids go through this. It’s truly epidemic right now. We’re the most anxious country in the world.
“Especially if you’re working with a college or high school population, it’s really prevalent. They’re growing up in a much more complicated world. Social media and the smart phone has kind of crippled them a little bit in terms of their disconnection and relationship skills. It’s unhealthy in terms of self esteem a lot of times.
“They’re coming to us in many ways accelerated in ways we’ve never seen then in other ways ill equipped in regards their lives are right now.”
Some high profile athletes have gone public about their mental health issues, including Olympic swimmers Michael Phelps and Allison Schmitt. For Ryan, a Players’ Tribune article by NBA star Kevin Love in March 2018 particularly resonated.
“It’s always comforting being reminded that other people have struggled before but there’s always ways to work through it,” Ryan said. “You’re not alone and you can always ask for help.”
Ryan worked with Steve Rodriguez of ASU’s athletic media relations staff to blend her journal entries with her current health status and its relevance to the pandemic. “Physical health is at the forefront with COVID-19 as it should be,” Ryan wrote. “But mental health should not be far behind it.”
The reception to her opening up has been rewarding, Ryan said. “I was really nervous at first for it to be shared. But after seeing the reaction, it’s a big relief to see all the support and also people who have messaged me and said they got something out of it or it helped them in some small way. It was really gratifying to know I could help even a few people in some way by sharing my story.”
Her basketball story has more chapters to come.
Ryan had surgery on her left ankle eight weeks ago and is now doing physical therapy preparing for what she hopes will be a chance to play professionally overseas like recent ASU players, including Sophie Brunner, Quinn Dornstauder, Promise Amukamara and Becca Tobin.
“I’m excited to have full strength and see what I can do,” Ryan said. “I love to travel. I’ll be happy no matter where I go.”
Her operative word being happy.