The 2026 Winter Olympics are being held in Milan, Italy, with thousands flocking to the region to watch the world’s most talented athletes compete in front of a globe-spanning audience. These athletes dedicate years of their lives to perfecting their strategies, choreographies, and techniques for the chance to represent their country. In recent years, many elite athletes have come forward to publicly discuss the stress and strain their sport can have on their mental wellness. Athletes like Michael Phelps, Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka, and Alysa Liu have all spoken out about their struggles, serving as representations of what perseverance and resilience in mental health can result in — success, purpose and strength.
While many of us will never compete at the Olympics, we can face our own trials and tribulations with the same perseverance and resilience as those who vie for a spot on the podium. In conversations with several clinicians at Acenda Integrated Health, we asked what it takes to embody the perseverance of an Olympian. Here’s what they said:
What is Perseverance in Mental Health?
In the context of mental health, perseverance and resilience are key skills in helping you move through your feelings and cope with them without feeling overwhelmed. Even when you are faced with barriers and setbacks, perseverance is the power to intentionally push forward, determined to grow and better yourself. As Acenda’s Associate Vice President of Behavioral Health, Jennifer Kugler, LPC, ACS, puts it, “Perseverance is the ability to continue to work toward a goal despite setbacks, disappointments, and getting discouraged. Life is not perfect and there will be challenges. Things will feel hard, which is normal! Build your capacity to withstand the hard things. The more you do, the more confidence you will grow in being able to do so.”
Common Misconceptions About Mental Perseverance
Due to centuries of stigma surrounding mental health and wellness, many people have misunderstandings about how best to care for themselves and others. According to Kugler and Kerry Joslin, LCSW, Program Director of Brief Strategic Family Therapy (BSFT) and a therapist at Acenda, the following are the most common myths - and their corresponding truths - about perseverance and mental health:
- Asking for help is a sign of weakness.
- Asking for help is a sign of bravery, strength, and a belief that there are solutions to help you work through your feelings.
- You have to push through at all costs.
- Sometimes your approach needs to be adjusted to best suit your mind and needs; a little tweak in coping skills can boost your ability to persevere.
- You can’t learn resilience; you either have it or you don’t.
- Resilience can be taught and built upon. You have the power to bounce back, and external support can help you find that power.
- You have to remain positive at all times.
- You are allowed to feel negative feelings - sometimes they can even help you better understand yourself and improve your resilience for the future. Balancing your efforts with regular self-care can help continue to support this process.
- Medication is a quick fix.
- Medication is there to support your mental wellness, but it can’t fix everything. The effort you put in with yourself, and a therapist if you need, can help just as much.
By acknowledging these misconceptions, you can restructure your beliefs and improve your ability to persevere through struggles with your mental health. “Perseverance and resilience in mental health is a skill that takes time, patience, and practice to learn,” Joslin writes. "It is not something you have to do on your own. Utilizing support from friends, family, or mental health professionals is a strength, not a weakness.”
What We Can Learn from Olympians
Mental health struggles can feel pervasive and isolating, even when you are working through them with a professional. Rather than wallow in loneliness, try looking to public figures who have spoken out about their own wellness struggles to serve as encouragement and role models, in addition to seeking comfort from loved ones.
“[Olympians’] messages can be extremely validating to the public,” Joslin writes. “They help dismantle negative stereotypes about mental illness and normalize that anyone (even athletes who seemingly ‘have it all’) can struggle with their mental health. Having mental health challenges does not have to define you or keep you from living a full, successful life.”
Tips on Building Your Ability to Persevere
While it’s easy to understand that perseverance and resilience are important pillars in your mental health journey, it can be difficult to grasp how to go about building those skills. Kugler recommends picking one simple task or goal and building on it to improve your abilities. Read through Kugler and Joslin’s other tips on how to bolster your efforts:
- Be consistent - Consistency is key when working on improving your mental health.
- Break down your goal - Breaking your goals down into bite-sized pieces can make them feel more attainable.
- Don’t be afraid to take a misstep - Mistakes are all part of the journey to success and can teach what to do next time your faced with a similar decision.
- Find someone who can hold you accountable - An accountability buddy can help you to stay on track and maintain your growth.
- Shift your perspective - When faced with barriers, triggers, regressions, or set-backs, try changing what feels like a negative into a positive — an opportunity for growth, a lesson learned.
- Acknowledge your struggles - Recognizing that today may have been hard, but tomorrow is a fresh start and an opportunity to try again can serve as a perspective reset.
These tips and tricks can help to support you as you embark on your journey toward building your ability to persevere beyond mental health struggles.
Moving Forward
Regardless of whether you are a gold-medal-winning Olympian or not, implementing perseverance and resilience in your mental health practices is critical to strengthening your ability to push through your wellness struggles.
“We are all human — even individuals who appear to ‘have it all’ need to prioritize their mental health, take breaks and step back,” Kugler writes. “Their vulnerability helps to minimize stigma and validate experiences. It is valuable to share and ask for help!”
Using the tips from Acenda’s clinicians and the insight they have shared, you too can embody the perseverance of an Olympian, and pave the way for your own success, purpose, and strength.
Want professional help building up your mental resilience? Check out Acenda's therapy services!
About the Authors
Kerry Joslin, LCSW, is the Program Director of Acenda’s Brief Strategic Family Therapy (BSFT) program, where she oversees a team of therapists working to mediate interventions to change interactions and create a healthy family units. She also works as a therapist with Acenda and has served the agency for more than 10 years.
Jennifer Kugler, LPC, ACS, is Acenda’s Associate Vice President of Behavioral Health, leading the agency’s Outpatient and Intensive Outpatient Mental Health programming, the Agency's Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC), School Based Clinical Services and the evidence-based model of care, Functional Family Therapy (FFT). She is passionate about providing clinical services with an emphasis on evidence-based practice with an ever-present trauma-informed lens and has been with agency for 20 years.
Riley de Jong, the Content & Engagement Strategist with Acenda’s Brand, Marketing & Engagement team, attended the University of California – Los Angeles for her undergraduate degree in Communication and minor in Entrepreneurship. She enjoys supporting her community, telling engaging stories, and connecting with others.