The Impact an Athlete has on me when they come out with mental illness

So whenever an athlete comes out and say they have a mental illness you see stories about how it has saved peoples lives and how it has made a difference and I am thankful that those stories have happened. Like BPD however, those  are the extremes so who happens to a person, like I don't know me, when something like this does happen:

• It is inspiring: Athletes have some of the most public lives. To go through this and always be around people it must be really hard. So it is amazing whenever someone does come out with something like that. It is also a reminder that these famous people, who on game day are watched intensely by fans, go through the same problems we do.
• It is a big deal...and it shows publicly: Do you think most people get to come out about their illness in Sports Illustrated or Bleacher report? The answer is obviously no. While it helps especially if it leads to progress. But there are also negative effects  sometimes.
• Other things are forgotten: So I could write a whole blog post about how people choose what stories they are interested in. But, I will use one. Robinson Williams (RIP) but when he took his own life for like 2 weeks all I heard about was Robin Williams. But then it went away and I didn't see people trying to make progress or change at least not a lot of people they just wanted the story. 
• Some of the people that are "famous to me" are not famous to others: Kevin Breel, a comic who gave a TED talk on being a depressed comic, and Ned Vizzini (RIP) who wrote it is kind of a funny story, became people I looked up to and at the same time...
• It knocked people down: I loved watching Haloti Ngata play football. Then I found out he got suspended for using ADHD medicine (adderall) and I can't cheer for him the same. The medicine that I wish I didn't have to use they are using to get even better. Another different example is when Brandon Marshall got in trouble for I believe it was punching a defensive back it broke my heart. Brandon Marshall who is the first athlete to come out with Borderline Personality disorder, made a mistake. But, to me it made all of us look bad.
• It is not an excuse: This is one of the hardest ones especially when you are not diagnosed so all I have to say is this: Having a mental illness does not give you the right to break the law anymore than anybody else. But assuming you don't use it as excuse and...
• ...If you come out and are honest about it I will support you through the good and bad: I understand people make mistakes so after Brandon Marshall made that mistake I still supported him.
• I hope this is read by athletes: I know it will never be perfect but the code of the locker room needs to go away. Given percentages there is a very good chance that your teammates or their friends or their families have mental illness. That is true for anything derogatory. 
• It is understood by people that have it on the inside: I think people who had this feeling when Michael Sam came out or when Jason Collins came out will understand it better than others. Kevin Breel said: "If you break your arm, everyone runs over to sign your cast, but if you tell people you're depressed, everyone runs the other way. That's the stigma." It is different than having something everyone can see. 
• Lastly, in the end it doesn't change that much but it might give you a little more hope: In the end you still have to live your life and the athletes while inspiring can't change that. So to me, who is very much interested in athletes and mental illness, what it does more than everything is give you a reminder that mental illness can effect anyone and everyone and that we need to use this to make progress.