Season three of Heart to Heart is back, and hopefully better than ever. This time around, my column is sponsored by Lexapro, a color-coordinated Google Calendar and more frequent bouts of deep breaths. The act of destigmatizing mental health was something I previously thought I should do anonymously — sure, my name sits at the top of this story, but my column has always acted as a voice shouting into the void about what to do when you’re not okay. 

Well, I haven’t been entirely honest with you. I know from personal experience that asking for help is absolutely dreadful and sometimes impossible. I know that talking about a sickness that you can’t see feels invalidating. I know that my words over the past year of this column have given the impression that I am qualified enough in my mental stability to have my name plastered atop these paragraphs. 

For that, I am deeply sorry. But for the stories I was fortunate enough to tell, I am still proud of how far I’ve come. I’m trying to get better at asking for help, advocating for myself and giving myself a break. But that journey does not have a tangible destination. It’s something I will work on forever and something I encourage you, dear reader, to pursue as well. 

Someone else who may need encouragement — I apologize for that rough transition — spends a lot of their time across the street from campus at the Galen Center. While my mental health has been on a steady incline, I cannot imagine the same holds true for USC men’s basketball. 

If there’s one thing USC is good at, it’s building up hype. We saw this phenomenon earlier this year at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum — fans awaited the return of Lincoln Riley and Caleb Williams, their cardinal-colored T-shirts stained from an anxious sweat that pooled atop their brows, their feet weary from the occasional standing ovation after the defense almost stopped a play. 

We’ve ripped the Trojans’ football defense enough at this point, though. What we’re experiencing this semester is another kind of hype that is once again flailing midway through the season. 

This column aims to shed light on the mental and emotional taxes an athlete pays for being physically gifted in the arena of college athletics. What I’ve been struggling with this season, however, is the tax of being a USC fan. Our tuition helps fund new athletic facilities and recruiting tactics to bring in the best players, but if we’ve recruited all of the best athletes in the game, why are we still performing poorly? 

The Trojans started the season with high hopes — a flame that the USC Athletics marketing team fanned into a wildfire — but their 8-11 record doesn’t even scratch the bottom of AP’s Top 25 Men’s College Basketball Poll. Despite securing the number one recruit out of high school, freshman guard Isaiah Collier, the Trojans still manage to fall flat since injury plagued their saving grace of a player. With fifth-year guard Boogie Ellis on the injured list alongside Collier, hope for USC has hit an all-time low. 

A four-game losing streak brings the Trojans to their crosstown rival on Saturday, a contest that will arguably define the season for USC men’s basketball. With a sold-out crowd, a home-court advantage and a team with an equally disappointing record, the Trojans have another shot at success before we can completely take them out of the equation. 

The season still has over a third left to run its course, and yet morale seems to be reaching lower and lower. In the most recent three games of this season the USC (8-11, 2-6 Pac-12) has shown that they are practically left for dead when their top players are out. Losses to Colorado (15-5, 6-3), Arizona (14-4, 5-2) and Arizona State (11-8, 5-3) have left the Trojan fanbase reeling. 

The question remains: How is this affecting the mental health of the guys on the court? 

The answer can be found in the hanging heads and furrowed brows of those who wear cardinal and gold after every heartbreaking loss. Losing undoubtedly affects the psyche in a negative way. Everyone has felt loss in games — whether it’s a heartbreaking buzzer-beater in a championship game that you miss or even losing a card game in your family’s living room. The sinking feeling in your gut is impossible to ignore. 

But when this feeling festers, it becomes more than just a loss. It becomes dread for the next game, doubting one’s ability to perform and giving up before your time is up. 

The Trojans have 12 games left this season. Twelve games left in the Pac-12. Twelve chances to revive their morale and hopefully their record along with it. 

Dana Hammerstrom is a junior writing about the mental health of collegiate athletes and the emotional pressures they face in her column, “Heart to Heart,” which runs every other Friday.