Depression, Mental Illness, Concussion - By Brandon Marshall

[lucas707]

Interesting, albeit brief, column by Brandon Marshall ...

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/12306...-to-learn.html

Easier said than done, but hopefully Brandon can put his problematic behavior behind him ...

[OrAnGe CrUsH 77]

Much respect to Brandon for facing his problems head on. Like you said, hopefully he can overcome.

[Broncogreg]

I want to see a show of hands............

Does anybody really think Brandon wrote this, at least by himself ?

Looks to me like a propaganda piece for the coming concussion law suit.

[agentorange]

I want to see a show of hands............

Does anybody really think Brandon wrote this, at least by himself ?

Looks to me like a propaganda piece for the coming concussion law suit.

When I first saw the thread, this is what I was thinking.

After reading the article (by Brandon Marshall or not) I don't see it as a propaganda piece at all. I see it more as encouragement for others to seek treatment for depression (CTE related or not). It seems to me that it is too easy to blame CTE for the mental health issues of athletes - what most of the pundits seem to infer as the cause for JS suicide. Meanwhile there is essentially no focus on encouraging them to seek treatment.

I think a lot of truth rings in the last few paragraphs - when the crowd noise is gone, what does the super star athlete hear? Silence can be deafening for some and unfortunately some don't know how to deal with it.

[Mingo]

I don't know if Brandon wrote it or not, but I I will say Brandon Marshall can be a very good guy - as well as the kind of guy you read about in the news with his various girlfriends. I hope he has found a way to control that part of him - he is so talented on the field.

[lucas707]

Even though I cannot tolerate or excuse violent or disrespectful behavior towards women, Marshall strikes me as a very bright and highly emotional person ... There is a childlike elan about him that is hard to dislike - with all of what he has accomplished, and gone thru, he is probably a psychologist's dream ( or nightmare :)

I fully believe that he wrote the article, and feels that he can mature into the person he wants to be ...

On a somewhat related note, it is obvious that the subject of HGH, steriod use, etc is not being covered as it should ...

For one, it would open a slanderous can of worms, esp regarding athletes who have committed suicide - "How disrespect to the family" or "Can't he simply rest in piece" etc etc - but, for example, HGH is directly linked to depression, euphoria and a whole cascading reaction when someone stops or starts it ...

I think it is quite obvious that when tens, if not hunderds, of millions of dollars are to be made in a relatively short period of time, the notion of enhancing the odds would be a no-brainer for most ... these enhancers are not simply things that pump up muscles - they change brain chemistry and cause a chain reaction that some are never able to balance ...

This is a lot more difficult for the players to talk about than concussions ( which are bad too )