Mental Health Awareness in the NBA

 Or with Royce White? I understand catering to his flying fear was perhaps impossible, but I don’t remember him getting much sympathy. I could be wrong, though.

Everybody probably thinks athletes because they make so much money and have so much fame that they have everything they could possibly want in life and that nothing could go wrong.  I think its good that it is gettting some acknowledgment. I can see all the travel and preasure putting some serious strain on some of these players. When you think about all the travel these guys do during the season, it is kind of insane. I’m sure others were probably suffering in silence, but now that Kevin Love and Demar Derozan have come out, others will soon follow and that is a good thing. 

It’s got to be difficult to maintain strong relationships with your spouse, partner, kids, etc. considering the travel, the intense focus required of a professional athlete and the fact that a team can be like a surrogate family.

Also the money must be a huge source of pressure especially if you come from an impoverished family and community. It’s not like being a super-successful lawyer or executive — they often don’t start making millions until they’re in their 40s or 50s, by which time their circles have probably narrowed considerably. But pro athletes become instant millionaires at 20 or 21 — they are still close to their extended families, their high-school and college friends — many of whom could desperately use a helping hand. This really haunted Iverson, from what I’ve read.

Still, I wouldn’t turn down the money.

 Larry Sanders had problems too

I just wait for the day Derrick Rose comes up that he suffers from depressions for 6 years or so now. It‘s really sad that it’s obvious he has mental problems and no one really speaks about it or has spoken about it until now. 

 Lots of different things going on in this thread, hard to know where to start.

1. Minorities in general in this country do not get the same kind of help, sympathy, compassion or empathy as whites in relation to mental illness. Not trying to turn this into a racial issue, and I think there are some things that race is injected into where it may or may not belong. But in this case, I think the evidence is pretty overwhelming. For much of America, perception is everything and for far too many Americans, there is a perception that mental illness among minorities isn’t something that can or should be used to explain erratic behavior. Yet it is often the first thing that is used to explain erratic, or even abhorent, behavior for whites. Especially white kids.

Being crazy is the first conclusion much of white America jumps to when talking about its worst actors — Charles Manson is "crazy." I seldom,  if ever, hear the same excuse made for minority ciminals. They’re just seen as criminals.

2. As someone who has family members who suffered from mental illness, there are several "triggers" that can make a problem worse, or even appear at all. Some people can live with various forms of mental illness or mental health issues and keep it under control. But stresses in life can make these problems appear, or make them significantly worse.

I’m sure the public pressure of being a pro athlete and maintaining a family, etc., while being on the road, etc. can trigger mental health issues or make them worse.

However, on the flip side, so can poverty, not having the money to pay bills, seek treatment, or live a healthy lifestyle. It is important to remember that professional athletes are infinitely healthier than the average American and there is often a direct tie from physical health to mental health. In other words, many of the professional athletes who suffer from mental illness or other phsycological issues might be worse if they didn’t have health insurance, were out of shape, couldn’t pay their bills, etc.

3. I actually agree with some of the sentiments expressed here about Royce White, and I actually got the same feeling from one of the posters here, he’s a really insightful, interesting person. But I also got the feeling that while he certainly had some issues that he was dealing with, that he probably didn’t really want to play basketball in the NBA as badly as you would expect and was unwilling to make concessions and meet teams half way. Kind of like Ricky Williams — some guys like the sport they are playing, but like other things in life as well. That’s kind of the feeling I got from White. I’ll admit that is pure speculation, so who knows.

Overall, I’m glad players are speaking out about this. Professional athletes have a way of breaking the mold of popular perception among much of America and it’s important that people see everyone as potentially suffering from mental illness or other mental health issues.

 i think its great its being talked about more. for a long time it was just not something you talked about. sometimes it was hidden behind substance abuse too. good for the players for opening up. and this goes beyond basketball too, it can get people outside of basketball that maybe looks up to one of these guys to not be so afraid of opening up about their issues. ron artest sure did a lot to open people up to mental health issues and i think its something he needs some credit for. but yeah its good to see it talked about more. on a side note anyone remember luther wright? drafted by utah in the 90s and had a mental break down his rookie year. utah is still paying on that contract. royce white kinda reminds me of him in some ways