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More Athletes Dealing With Social Anxiety Disorder
Published by MoonDog on June 30, 2009
Over the past 10 years, there’s been a growing list of athletes dealing with Social Anxiety Disorder, a form of social phobia that in most cases typically involves a “persistent, intense, and chronic fear of being judged by others and of potentially being embarrassed or humiliated by one’s own actions.”
On Monday, the St. Louis Cardinals placed shortstop Khalil Greene on the 15-day DL for the second time this season as a result of SAD. Earlier this season, Cincinnati’s Joey Votto did a stint on the DL after he experienced symptoms related to the disorder.
Acquired in the offseason from the Padres, Greene is batting .200 with five home runs, 19 RBIs and eight errors in 47 games. Greene’s first bout with SAD sent him to the DL in late May, causing him to miss 19 games.
St. Louis’ General manager John Mozeliak said Greene would not be with the team for perhaps two weeks.
“We’re just going to give him a little time to figure out what’s best,” Mozeliak said. “We have to be patient.”
Kansas City’s Zach Grienke and Detroit’s Dontrelle Willis are among other baseball players dealing with SAD.
In an article written by Jordin Godwin of the Houston Chronicle, athletes – and more specifically baseball players – experiencing social phobias and other anxiety disorders are sometimes referred to as having ‘Steve Blass Disease.’
Blass went 19-8 for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1972 and finished second in the National League Cy Young voting. The following season, Blass saw his ERA jump to 9.85 and walked the same number of batters in 161 fewer innings.
Social Anxiety Disorder and other forms of social phobias were largely ignored prior to 1985. Psychiatrist Michael Liebowitz and clinical psychologist Richard Heimberg are widely considered to be the driving forces behind increased attention to the disorder.
According to U.S. epidemiological data from the National Institute of Mental Health, “social phobia affects 5.3 million adult Americans in any given year.”
Studies have reached prevalence rates with conservative estimates at 5 percent of the population while other estimates vary between 2 percent and 7 percent of the U.S. adult population.
According to an article written by Arlin Cuncic, “most sport psychologists work with athletes to help them overcome anxiety about about performance during competitions. In its most extreme form, this type of anxiety would be diagnosed as SAD.”
In the article written by Godwin, sports psychologist Dr. Jack J. Lesyk, says SAD is treatable with therapy and medications.
“Most players and coaches would agree that nervousness is a key part of an athlete’s performance,” Lesyk said.
Critics say many suffering from social phobias lack mental toughness and have become victims of those promoting the idea that any problems with anxiety disorders are a pathological condition requiring medical treatment.
In an article written by Brendan I. Koerner, he says many, including athletes, are “being driven by pharmaceutical companies, either by direct advertising to the public or their financial influence on psychiatry.”
Koerner and other proponents of this view argue that drug companies try to increase profits by inventing new diseases or labels.
Others have argued that athletes are a reflection of society in general, having succumbed to a growing sense that something or someone else is to blame for their problems.
Regardless of what theory you may subscribe to, athletes generally get less sympathy than the average person because of the huge dollars they’re paid to play a game.
Some suggest an athlete need only to look at their paycheck to solve any mental anguish they may have. Considering greater socio-economic factors can become burdensome for the average person, athletes have virtually no financial issues to contend with.
People who work in highly pressurized jobs or those serving in the military – especially in hazardous areas like Iraq or Afghanistan – might easily scoff at the notion an athlete can’t perform under far less stressful conditions.
For Greene, a decision will have to be made if he’s capable of playing baseball again. Regardless if SAD is the root of his problems or not, St. Louis could effectively spend $6.5 million this season on a player who hasn’t performed anywhere near what was expected of him.
The loss of $6.5 million may be reason enough for fans to have very little empathy for Greene and other athletes, despite any mental disorders they may be dealing with.
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Pinkies Up!!! Beetlejuice Edition on Tue, 30th Jun 2009 12:23
[...] Joey Votto isn’t the only one with Social Anxiety Disorder (MoonDog Sports) [...]