Kevin Love Discusses Panic Attack, Mental Health Issues

Cavaliers forward Kevin Love says he had panic attack during game, discussing mental health struggles

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love opened up about his struggles with mental health and says he was hospitalized earlier this season after having a panic attack.

In an essay published on The Players' Tribune, Love says during a Nov. 5 game against the Atlanta Hawks, he experienced stomach pain and shortness of breath.

"It came out of nowhere. I'd never had one before," Love wrote. "I didn't even know if they were real. But it was real -- as real a broken hand or a sprained ankle. Since that day, almost everything about the way I think about my mental health has changed."

Love says that he has been going to a therapist since the panic attack.

"It really makes you think about how we are all walking around with experiences and struggles -- all kinds of things -- and we sometimes think we're the only ones going through them," Love said. "The reality is that we probably have a lot in common with what our friends and colleagues and neighbors are dealing with.

"Mental health is an invisible thing, but it touches all of us at some point or another. It's part of life. Like DeMar said, 'You never know what that person is going through.'"

Love, who is averaging 17.9 points and 9.4 rebounds per game, has missed the Cavaliers' last 15 games after breaking his hand in late January. He was expected to miss 6–8 weeks with the injury.