The Unseen Battle: Mental Health in Sports and Society with Eric Kussin

Off The Cuff with Danny LoPriore

We’ve all got something going on inside, a silent battle that rages that we must deal with at some point. It makes no difference what a person looks like on the surface, or the mask they wear, everyone, even the person who looks, acts, and speaks like there’s nothing, has something, if we’re ever honest with one another, that’s the one thing that brings us closer.

“It’s kind of like a club that everyone in the world is a member of they just don’t know it yet.” – Eric, (4:04)

My guest today is Eric Kussin and he’s one of the most fascinating men I’ve ever met. Eric is the founder of #SameHere Global, a non-profit that champions addressing mental health challenges in a strategic manner. In this episode, Eric sits down, and we have a very real conversation about his bouts with mental health, how the system gets it all wrong, and why athletes move past the stigma that keeps them from getting the peace they deserve.

“Emotional pain is cumulative.” – Eric, (8:43)

If you’ve been struggling or fighting a battle that you feel like you can seem to defeat on your own, understand there are solutions to assist you. Listen as Eric candidly speaks about his struggles and the ones he’s seen in others and how these experiences can help you overcome yours!

“Your love of what you do every single day is an escape.” – Eric, (27:24)

“When you’re taught at a young age that there’s this escapism type of tool that you pop that just makes things better, you’re never asked to develop the skill set that allows you to develop the skill set to deal with challenging events.” Eric, (45:11)

In this Episode:

• (1:40) – Eric talks about where he is now.

• (2:11) – He started the organization as an obligation after he learned about mental health system flaws.

• (2:30) – Lessons learned about the non-profit work world.

• (3:35) – Eric discusses navigating the different pieces of the business.

• (4:40) – Understanding the commonality we all share.

• (6:39) – Eric delves into why athletes ignore mental health.

• (6:50) – What society told us about mental health and who it’s for.

• (8:13) – Eric discloses how athletes mistakenly use on-the-field hurt to mirror off-the-field mental hurts.

• (9:07) – The cumulative build of mental health.

• (9:52) – Eric discusses the hidden costs of the routines that coaches put players through.

• (10:15) – Danny discusses the one thing sports never taught him.

• (11:30) – Why athletes can’t be vulnerable about real-life challenges.

• (12:40) – Sports documentaries are actually mental health stories.

• (13:28) – Insights on Johnny Manziel.

• (16:34) – Danny describes the curious case of Jon Jones.

• (21:35) – The misses of the Netflix documentary and how they mirror the life of an athlete.

• (23:30) – Holding Netflix accountable is something Eric thinks needs to be done with sports documentaries.

• (25:33) – Danny discusses how a loss by a favorite team can impact the week.

• (26:44) – Understanding the importance or lack thereof of using sports as a release.

• (27:55) – Athletes and dealing with the things that really matter.

• (29:48) – Eric discusses the addiction to Dopamine and the need to address it.

• (32:00) – The need to work on the things you’ve lived through.

• (32:30) – The hidden pain of nicknames.

• (34:00) – Eric gives his opinion on medication.

• (35:15) – The 52 medications Eric tried.

• (38:12) – How medication works.

• (39:00) – The danger of marketing medication as a cure.

• (40:10) – Mental health drugs are not fixers.

• (41:41) – Eric talks about why people go to gyms and the cause and effect of it.

• (43:22) – Danny believes children of today are overmedicated.

• (46:30) – Eric says we’re treating mental health and physical health the same way which is wrong.

• (47:10) – Danny says it takes more than just medicine; it takes actual work.

• (48:35) – It’s not about being ripped; it’s about being functional.

• (55:40) – Eric brings steroids into the conversation.

• (56:46) – Stem cells, athletes, and advances in technology.

• (58:35) – A theory on why people bully.

• (59:32) – The brilliance of Royce White.

• (1:00:26) – How the NBA actually talks out of both sides of their mouth.

• (1:03:00) – The pros and cons of TMS therapy.

• (1:07:33) – The Singlet and repetitive thought patterns.

• (1:08:57) – STAR, healing your nervous system through self-healing.

• (1:10:36) – Happy isn’t a binary place.

Our Guest

Eric Kussin is the founder of #SameHere Global which brings athletes, celebrities, and expert practitioners together. After a successful career that started at the NBA League Office and led to senior management positions with a number of professional sports teams, Eric’s mental health took a sudden and rapid decline. Due to unresolved personal life traumas, he failed to appropriately address at a younger age – life experiences he was unaware were affecting his mental health – Eric developed a severe bout of PTSD, along with symptoms of anxiety and depression. This fall came essentially “out of nowhere” and left him almost permanently in bed, and with severe cognitive impairment, for just over two and a half years. Once he found a way to climb out of his abyss, he vowed to spend the rest of his life focused on changing the global conversation through mental health advocacy.

Resources & Links

Off The Cuff

• https://www.offthecuff.fm/

• https://www.youtube.com/c/OffTheCuffwithDannyLoPriore

• https://www.instagram.com/1and1otc/

• https://www.instagram.com/dannylopriore/

Eric Kussin

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-kussin-5010a37

• https://www.instagram.com/samehere_global/

• https://www.facebook.com/SameHereGlobal

• https://twitter.com/samehere_global

• https://www.instagram.com/weareallalittlecrazy/?hl=en