Angela Lee has done a lot of reflection on her career by writing about the challenges she has had in terms of her mental health during the course of her professional life.
In 2017, the ONE Atomweight World Champion found that her struggles outside of the ring were beginning to have a significant impact on her life.
Around that time, as seen from the outside looking in, she was at the pinnacle of success. At that point, she had successfully defended her title numerous times and was the first female to win the global championship for the promotion.
Lee talks on the strain of being a champion, both in terms of making weight and putting so much importance on this element of her life, in the interviews she gives and the piece she writes for Players’ Tribune.
Angela Lee disclosed, during an interview with Daniel Cormier for ESPN MMA, the ways in which the pressure of living up to others’ expectations has badly impacted both her professional and personal lives, despite her capacity to excel when the stakes are highest:
“Yeah, in 2017 I had everything I wanted in life. I had my world championship title, I had defended it numerous times, I had met my future spouse, and I was engaged. It was strange, and I try to look back on it and try to understand, you know, break it down and really try to see, you know, everything that led up to that moment and why, and it’s just such a strange thing because everything appeared to be going well in my life on the outside, but on the inside, I think just the pressure and stress and the feeling of “I gotta stay on top of everything, on the top of the world” contributed to it.
“I had no choice but to remain there, and I had always believed that I was the type of person who works very well under pressure. This is something that I have repeated to myself before each and every one of my bouts. Before going into the cage, I would always remind myself of that, simply to give myself some peace of mind. But, you know, I believe there’s a limit to how far you can go and how long you can continue telling yourself that until you have to really take a step back and deal with everything that’s going on within [my brain].”
You can see the entire interview down below:
Help is available if you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts or is experiencing someone else’s suicidal thoughts. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline can be reached in the United States by calling or texting the number 988, or by chatting on the website located at 988lifeline.org. Check out this page for a list of helplines that are offered by other countries.
