AJ Lee Praises WWE’s Evolution Regarding Approach Toward Mental Health

AJ Lee was very happy to see how WWE has changed their attitudes toward mental health since her first run, as she noted in a new interview. The part-time WWE star has spoken in the past about her struggles with bipolar disorder and how it was difficult to manage during her first run in the company, which ended in 2014.

Lee is back with the company now of course, and she spoke about how the company has evolved in that respect on State Of Mind with Maurice Benard. She said that the company culture has changed significantly and she feels supported now. You can see highlights below:

On Her History with Injuries:

“To be fair, I am very lucky. I never had to have a surgery for wrestling-related injuries. Most people don’t make it out unscathed like that. You know, knock on wood, I’m still going. No necessary surgery.

“I’ve had suggested surgeries, but I haven’t done them, you know, for my neck, and I’ve strained stuff and torn — some minor tears here and there. But a lot of the culture when I was younger was, you just keep going because it’s going to keep going without you. So if you’re injured, you just kind of fake it and say you’re fine and keep going injured.”

On How That’s Changed:

“It’s very much not that now, which I was really happy to see. It’s very much like, ‘Let’s have a conversation about how you’re feeling.’ And you can get time off and you can spend more time with your family.

“And I will say to their credit, my biggest concern coming back was my mental health. And Nick Khan and Paul Levesque, they’re like the bosses that kind of brought me in. They were so open about,. ‘We will protect our mental health and if we don’t we’re not doing our job right, like that’s going to be our number one priority.’ And it was never like that 10 years ago. I felt like I had to hide that part of me 10 years ago. So for my bosses to support me in that way I have to give them all the credit for that.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit State Of Mind with Maurice Benard with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.