Angela Lee says it's important to determine the root of the problem when tackling mental health issues

Former ONE women's atomweight MMA world champion Angela Lee chose to hang up her gloves last year to fight a bigger fight: help combat athletes overcome mental health issues. This is quite a noble decision considering she's in the middle of a dominant run atop her weight class for many years.

'Unstoppable' Angela Lee decided to take some time away from the sport to heal from the tragic passing of her sister and fellow ONE fighter Victoria Lee. A year later, the Singaporean-American world champion chose to retire to focus on helping other fighters combat depression and suicide.

In an episode of Keep It Aloha Podcast on YouTube, Lee spoke about how one can determine what to do when someone they care about is feeling depressed:

“I hate it when people just say like ‘Oh just be happy. Just like stay positive.’ Their intentions are good I know, but is that really helpful in that situation? So I think it's important to acknowledge what you're thinking or feeling, embracing it, and maybe think and ask yourself well why am I feeling this way right now? Is it due to increased stress? lack of sleep? or is it something deeper.”

Watch the full interview here:

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Angela Lee reveals the purpose of opening up about depression and mental health issues

After relinquishing her belt and retiring from the sport, Lee conceived "Fightstory", a non-profit organization aimed at helping professional fighters deal with the mental health issues that come with the brutal sport they practice.

In a video released late last year, Angela Lee revealed that in November 2017, she attempted suicide by purposely trying to crash her car, which was, back then, deemed an accident.

This startling revelation was made even more heartbreaking by the fact that Lee lost her sister Victoria Lee to suicide more than a year prior. In the Keep It Aloha podcast, Angela Lee revealed why she decided to share her story:

“What I wanted to do with that video that we put out is really just, you know, to strip away that armor and come to a place where you know I can speak to everyone and say that look, you know, even though I'm this or that whatever, we're all human,” Lee said.