Sydel Curry-Lee Shares Her Mental Health Journey To Help Lessen The Stigma

Sydel Curry-Lee, sister of NBA stars Stephen and Seth Curry, and wife to NBA star Damion Lee is using her social media platform to help lessen the stigma of mental health and help others by sharing her own journey.

Curry-Lee recently shared some of her recent mental health struggles in an Instagram Story. "Mental health is weird. it can sneak up on you when you least expect it," she began her Story. "For me, it likes to really show itself on these holidays where I'm supposed to be happy and cheerful."

Her Story continues to talk about how holidays have been a struggle for her for the past few years. "I've noticed the past couple years that on Christmas, New Years, Valentine's Day, etc my mental health suffers to the point where I disassociate," she continued. "Become a shell of myself."

She also opens up about being hard on herself because it's tough to figure out why she can't "be happy or normal like everyone else."

"I've never spoken to anyone about this. But I promised to be more vocal about my journey so here is me trying. Here's hoping tomorrow is a better day," she concluded the Story.

In another Story slide, the social media creator shared some mental health information writing, "Just an fyi." Included on the slide is information about what causes mental illness and factors that can increase your risk of developing a mental illness.

In a recent Instagam video, Curry-Lee shares some of her story. She begins by explaining that she's an oversharer about her personal life and that's how and why she began speaking openly about mental health and her struggles. She also talked about why she took a break from sharing her story online.

"Back in 2017, I said if I was going to become a social media content creator, I want to put some meaning behind it. And to me, that also meant, I wanted to bring light to mental health, talk about my mental health and also talk about ways that we can change the stigma around it," she said. "And my contribution to try to change the stigma around mental health is sharing my own personal experiences, what I deal with when it comes to mental health."

She went on to explain that she's had five concussions and was in a very abusive relationship in the past, as well as some other experiences that "jump started my mental health journey."

Curry-Lee began blogging about her life back in 2017 and said she was comfortable sharing her struggles and journey in the hopes of helping others who can relate. "I really enjoyed talking about my own personal experiences, my life, the good, the bad, the ugly and all of that," she said. "But at the end of the day, I am a real person with real mental health issues. This is not a facade. I deal with anxiety every day. I have anxiety right now if you can't hear it in my voice."

She continued to explain that she would sometimes get negative comments about how she was voicing her opinions and struggles, and it started to get to her.

After having her son Daxon in November 2021, her hormones shifted and she started dealing with anxiety over her job and people's negative comments. Going through mental health struggles, she felt she needed to take a step back from being open and honest online. But she feels her calling is to help other people feel they are not alone, and she wanted to be that voice again.

"I let my fear of what people think about me, people judging me, because this isn't for everyone. Oversharing isn't for everyone," she said. "I let their thoughts and opinions infiltrate our journey together. And so I'm going back and focusing more on who I do this for. I do this for those of you who feel like there's so much more you could be doing with your life, but your mental health is holding you back."

Curry-Lee concluded her video by saying, "Let's continue in this journey together. I'm right there along with you and we're gonna be okay."

Many of Curry-Lee's Instagram followers could relate to and appreciate her being so open and honest on the topic of mental health. "People will {unfortunately} always have something to say. Keep following your higher purpose, Sydel. I love how real you are," one person wrote in the comments of the video clip.

Another person added, "Thank you for sharing this. I really needed to hear your message this morning. I too deal with mental illness. To the world, I appear to have it all, but my anxiety and depression fights me to enjoy the moment. I appreciate your vulnerability and your over-sharing. Your message made me feel like I’m not in this alone. Keep doing what your doing because you are touching and reaching people who needs to hear your message. Praying for better days ahead. ?"