ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and a new novel about mental health is on store shelves. It examines mental health through the eyes of a fictional athlete.
The author knows a thing or two about athletes— he’s the play-by-play announcer for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Dave Mishkin has been calling Lighting hockey games since 2002. He says it doesn’t matter how many fans you have or Stanley Cups you hoist, hockey payers also experience challenges surrounding mental health.
“Hockey players are being very outspoken about their willingness to not only talk about their own mental health issues if they have them but also be supportive of other athletes who are talking about it,” said Mishkin.
The novel, "Blind Squirrel," is about a minor league hockey player by the name of Noah Nicholson who lost his parents in a car accident when he was 12 years old.
“Present day in the book, early 2000s, if you were an athlete and a guy in the early 2000s dealing with something, not only did you not talk about it, you thought you were the only person in the world dealing with it, now we know that’s not the case,” said Mishkin.
Mishkin said the characters may be fictional, but the highs and lows they go through are relatable to our own everyday lives.
“I’ve had my own issues over the years. I was able to tap into my own experiences and understand if I don’t feel right or well in this particular moment that doesn’t mean that that’s going to be a forever situation,” said Mishkin.
A portion of book sales will also go back to helping people right here in the Tampa Bay community.
“I’ve been really glad to partner with Tampa Bay Thrives, which is the non-profit in our area that’s been doing really great work to strike the stigma surrounding mental health,” said Mishkin.
For more information, go to www.blindsquirrelnovel.com.
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