Dear Readers:
By now, much of America knows that an all-star football player named Barret Robbins, center for the Oakland Raiders, was not permitted to play in the Super Bowl. His wife had him hospitalized, and there were reports of a suicide watch. Many different stories have emerged since then about the cause for Robbins’ failure to show up at important meetings and events the day before the big game.
These rumors range from binge drinking and drug use, wild Mexican adventures, to failure to take medication to control his mental illness. Some reports indicated that Robbins suffers from a bipolar disorder and that without his medications, or under the influence of alcohol, he can become confused, depressed, and disoriented.
When the Raiders got crushed (a sweet verb!) by the Bucs in the Super Bowl, Robbins became a scapegoat for the black and silver horde. Several teammates condemned him in public, as if he was a cowardly soldier who had gone AWOL in the heat of battle.
What struck Doc as sad and ironic were the circumstances of Robbins excommunication. If he had been arrested for violence at a strip club, if he had been found with huge amounts of cocaine in his trunk, even if he had beaten up his girlfriend, his teammates would probably have surrounded him with empathy and support. (Even O.J. Simpson kept some friends.) But because he suffers from a mental illness, a chemical imbalance in his brain, he became fair game for insult and accusation.
This event should have presented sports journalists with an opportunity to do some serious reporting on mental illness, especially the nature of bipolar disorders. The best Doc heard came from a sports radio talk show host in Tampa, known as “The Big Dog,” Steve Duemig, who invited listeners to call in if they had firsthand knowledge of what it meant to be bipolar. The accounts from patients, family members, and caregivers were illuminating.
Denver Post sports columnist Woody Paige says he suffered from depression for 12 years, and that the media has no idea what Robbins is gong through.
Here in Prozac Nation, one would think there would be more general knowledge and sensitivity to those suffering from mental illness. It looks like we’ve got a long way to go. How depressing.
