Naomi Osaka Says She’s ‘Still Learning’ How to Handle Negativity on Social Media (Exclusive)

Osaka was announced as Maybelline's first Brave Together ambassador to encourage awareness around mental health

• Naomi Osaka opens up about social media's impact on her mental health

• Maybelline announced Osaka as their first-ever Brave Together ambassador, encouraging people to speak out about their mental health

• Osaka says she wants her daughter Shai to "feel like her feelings are valid" as she grows up

Naomi Osaka puts her mental health first.

"I think most people don't know that mental health is as important as your physical health, and in some ways, it might be more important," the soft-spoken 26-year-old tennis star tells PEOPLE exclusively as Maybelline announces her as the brand's first Brave Together ambassador, which aims to support those facing anxiety and depression by funding free professional support and access to support tools and mental health resources.

Having braved through several vulnerable moments in the public eye — including revealing she's struggled with depression since 2018, her withdrawal from the 2021 French Open and Wimbledon tournaments to preserve her mental health and a disheartening moment with a spectator in 2022 that nearly brought her to tears — Osaka says she's "fortunate" to have "been learning about mental health for quite a couple years now," and she's become "more prepared" with tools and resources.

The four-time Grand Slam champion utilizes meditation and "common practices like that," says Osaka, who travels with a mental health coach when she's competing. "I wouldn't really call her a therapist, but basically she's someone that helps me with tools that I can use on and off the court," she explains.

After the 2022 incident when a spectator yelled, "Naomi, you suck," at her during a tournament, Osaka revealed to reporters that she had begun seeing a therapist. "It kind of took me out of my element," she said at the time.

Related: Naomi Osaka's Custom 'Goth' US Open Look Is Her 'Best Outfit Ever' — Yes, Nike Does Ruffles!

Having a few years of experience in therapy under her belt, Osaka now praises the tennis community for having taken the topic "really seriously" in recent years, and she's grateful that "almost all" tournaments offer access to "facilities with quiet rooms" and "someone you can talk to on site 24/7."

"I really appreciate that the conversation was taken really seriously, and I think all the players really appreciate that," says the Brave Together ambassador, who penned a powerful essay about "the right to take a mental break from media scrutiny" for Time magazine in 2022.

The piece was celebrated by many of Osaka's fellow star athletes, including Stephen Curry, Michael Phelps and Novak Djokovic, who applauded the Japanese tennis pro's call for "measures to protect athletes, especially the fragile ones."

Later that year, she received praise from Nick Kyrgios, who said Osaka inspired him to speak out about his own experience with mental wellness.

But Osaka says social media remains a gray area when it comes to nurturing her mental health.

"I would say that I'm not as involved in social media anymore, just because I began to feel like it was very negative, I guess when people started knowing of me more," she tells PEOPLE. "So I kind of disconnected myself from that. I know that social media in a way is a little bit unavoidable, so I think that I'm still learning."

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Less involvement doesn't mean Osaka will stand down to an online troll, however. On Oct. 3, she called out a comment calling her a "fluke" in a vehement post on Threads. "You couldn't even touch one of my accomplishments with your fingernail," Osaka wrote in the open letter to her digital bully.

In July 2023, Osaka gave birth to her first child, daughter Shai with the rapper Cordae, and shortly after opened up about the "stresses" of motherhood as a self-proclaimed "over-thinker."

Osaka tells PEOPLE she's begun to consider how she'll talk to Shai about mental health as she grows older, and she's proud to partner with Maybelline to encourage others to nurture their own wellness.

"I want [Shai] to feel like her feelings are valid and nothing that she's going through should make her feel like she's isolated," Osaka says. "I think the biggest thing is that I want her to feel supported throughout her journey and throughout her feelings, because I think everyone goes through their own life and we all just want to feel supported in that journey."

Fortunately, Osaka has found a support system in the other mothers in her sport. "There are a couple of other moms on tour and we kind of go through similar things and similar feelings, so it's nice to know that you're not alone."

Related: Naomi Osaka Says She Had to Fight the ‘Thought That I Won’t Be a Good Mom’

In honor of World Mental Health Day, Osaka and Maybelline released a powerful new campaign in which the tennis pro encourages others to speak out and be vulnerable when it comes to mental health.

Osaka says that kind of transparency from a major brand like Maybelline is "really important" to raise awareness and break the stigma around anxiety and depression. "I think there's a little bit of a negative connotation around it sometimes, and I feel like it's important for people to know that these feelings or just mental health in general is completely normal, and we shouldn't be looking at people like they're weak or they can't discuss these feelings."

"And especially a brand as big as Maybelline, for them to have created such an amazing program about it and just be willing to discuss it and bring it to the forefront is definitely very powerful."

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