Head-banging health care pioneer tackles mental illness one text at a time

Mental health has shed its stigma over the past few years, as high-profile athletes and performers have come forward with honesty and candor about struggles with anxiety, depression, panic attacks, addiction and other emotional and psychological difficulties.

American gymnast Simone Biles and Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka, in particular, were upfront about their mental health problems, and their vulnerability was an inspiration for millions of people — 52.9 million in the United States alone, according to the National Institutes of Health — who’ve suffered far too long in silence, afraid of being labeled weak, lazy, antisocial, etc.