Sounds like upper management and CBA is the sticking point. Kevin McHale is not.
Royce White Article on Grantland
- Thread starter CycloneNorth
- Start date
One of my best friends in HS and college (transferred to ISU) went through the same thing. Are we taking about the same guy?!?
Just checked his facebook and sure enough CW is a friend. It's gotta be the same guy. His dad ended up buying the hummer from him.
My question for you, considering you've struggled with something similar to Royce, what is a situation where Royce would be considered mentally unfit to play? Mental symptoms, physical symptoms, etc? Or if you don't want to speak for Royce, have you had situations where you'd be unable to play basketball? Would it be unsafe?
I respect this.
As someone who has a close family member struggling with anxiety (in roughly same age range as RW, for what that's worth), Royce isn't making this stuff up. And unless he was pushing for a higher salary because of his condition, I see no motivation for him to do so.
In this interview alone, I see so many similarities, through some of Royce's comments and a few of Klosterman's observations. I want to post a few of those excerpts, but they probably don't explain anything at face value unless someone is "in the know."
I'll add to this. There are different types of anxiety as well. One of the most frustrating things is when people say "just don't think about it" or "you look fine". The worst is "man up". At times it's easier to stay inside and sit on the computer than go out with people who tell you to "man up". It can be hard to be social at time. Just because one facet of his life seems normal (nice house, nice cars, etc) doesn't mean something else isn't amiss.
When you have social anxiety you may start to drink to loosen up. All of a sudden you have health problems from self-medication of alcohol. So yes, sometimes addictions can stem from mental issues.
People don't know about anxiety until someone they love has it.
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Was going to reference this. I am a physician, not psychiatrist, but the DSM-IV is the gospel of psychiatry. The problem with what Royce says about any addictive personality being a mental illness is that the DSM-IV criteria for all these behaviors specifies that the issue must interfere with daily life. Just because one gambles does not qualify unless their losses or behaviors is detrimental. So just because someone drinks or gambles does not mean they have a mental disorder.
On the appeal process mentioned in the article, I happened to be close to the team when that was going on. I actually felt Royce was going to win that appeal based on the information submitted, and was surprised it was denied. There was more to it then the stress of the situation and needing to get away, which I can not elaborate on.
"There are times when White seems like a brilliant ninth-grader who just wrote a research paper on mental illness and can't stop talking about it. He's arrogant, and perhaps not as wise as he believes himself to be"
This part of Klosterman's piece stood out to me because that's the vibe I got from listening to his interviews.
Is he smart or is he quick and/or well-read? While his responses sounded intelligent, do they really make sense taken as a whole? Reminds me of Charlie Sheen as he was going down the crapper.
He has basketball skills, he doesn't seem to want to use those skills or work on those skills and better yet he has "chosen" a profession where he is poorly suited to succeed.
This.
At first i was disappointed about Royce but I really didn't understand what he meant or wanted. Protocol, a plan to provide a safe environment etc. Sounded like a bunch of vague excuses that didnt add up to me. Well, I have a brother in law that has extreme anxiety and ocd like royce. He has always been quiet a good student in college and kept his nose clean and played college sports. Well he rcently took a new job in the financial sector that triggored extreme anxiety stress and culminated in a quick downward spiral over the last month. He became so drained and eventually stopped sleeping and couldn't go to work, which caused even more anxiety. Yesterday he overdosed on sleeping pills. Luckily my wife found him when she checked in on him over her lunch hour and called an ambulance. She is visiting him now in inpatient phychiatric care. I couldn't stop thinking about it all day how fast everything changed for this good hardworking young man with just a change in his environment and a lack of a plan for him to cope with the anxiety brought on by this job. He has had this since his teenage years like Royce and is only a few years older. Holes can seem big and unbearable quickly, and now I totally understand what Royce meant by safety, protocal etc. I have a new degree of amazing respect for him and the courage he took to ensure his health. I only wish my brother inlaw had that same self awareness to put his health first. Royce is an empowering figure and I hope all in this thread bashing him (as I once did) don't have to go through what we did with someone you care about to see that.
While I generally think anyone can do anything they set their mind to, I believe RW's mental illness means he should NOT be a professional basketball player the way he wants to be (his doctor telling the team if RW feels like playing or practicing). If he really wants to get healthy, walk the frick away and get yourself healthy. You can NOT demand someone else take responsibility for your personal mental illness.