[flames_1987]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

I have severe depression, I take Ciprolex every day to keep it at bay. I was involved in a very bad car accident in 1999 that left me with a closed head injury. Not once no matter how depressed I have been have I ever thought of suicide because I am aware of what it would do to family and friends, I could never do something that would destroy the lives of my family like that. Maybe other posters should wait to see if it was concussion related before defending his actions too. Did he ever think about what the impact of his actions would be on his kids? On his mother? On his friends? And don't give me any B.S. about being so depressed that you can't see anything else but ending your own torment, if he was that bad I am sure somebody would have noticed. Didn't his ex wife say that he seemed fine last they talked? When I was severly depressed people knew it, I didn't leave me room, had no interest in anything and they convinced me I needed help. This to me sounded more like a snap decision to not deal with his issues and if that is the case he is selfish, what he has done to his family is unforgivable. Even if he has depression from post concussion syndrome it is still treatable, there is zero excuse not to get help in this day and age and especially with the resources somebody of his financial stature has. Look at Michael Landsberg of TSN and his story, he also battles severe depression and he got the help he needed because he knew he needed it and anybody suffering from depression will be told by friends and loved ones they need help, it is very easy to see in somebody. Depression is a disease but it is a treatable one and taking your own life is not the right answer, it is a selfish one.

I don't know where to begin with this post, I take such great offense to nearly everything you said and the tone you've used to do it with. I'm baffled at how you managed to stuff that much ignorance into one post.


Depression is different for every single person that suffers from it. It takes on so many different shapes and forms, it's the furthest thing in the world from black and white. Depression is not as simple as hiding in your room, not wanting to do anything. Some of the most incredibly intelligent and successful people in the world, suffer from it. It can be next to impossible to see through it, notice any warning signs, and people with depression will sometimes do as much as they can, to make people believe they are the furthest thing from being depressed.

I relate a lot of how people view depression and mental illness, to how people view alcoholism. Both are a terrible disease to have and nearly impossible for an outsider to understand how an alcoholic's brain functions, yet so many do. Craig Ferguson has a great monologue on depression/alcoholic on youtube, that would do you wonders to watch. He suffers from alcoholism and how he does not crave the drink like a drug, but simply cannot function and stop at 1 if he has any. Even as an alcoholic himself, he talks about being unable to understand the other side of alcoholism and how someone's brain must work when there is a need for alcohol, above everything else.

While no one can say for sure that Junior suffered from depression, his ex-teammate, Marcellus Wiley, gave an emotional interview to ESPN where he described Junior as a man who, among many admirable qualities, refused to show weakness or pain

People who commit suicide can have such a high level of empathy for the people around them, they believe they are doing a good thing in taking their lives. Going their entire lives, not wanting to put their guilt on anyone close to them or have people pity them. And in a lot of cases, some people just don't have the support group that a lot of us are blessed with. There is nobody to turn to, nobody truly invested in your day to day life.

You speak about the resources out there, and I applaud you for that. Depression in society still has an incredibly long way to go however. There are still so many misconceptions and shame associated with it, people still feel incredibly embarrassed to admit or talk openly about it. There is still so much work to be done for this cause. And someone's income level, does not change their situation one bit.


Winston Chang, wrote an incredibly intelligent article about whether or not Seau's death was preventable:

http://blog.sfgate.com/wchung/2012/0...h-preventable/

While many are speculating about how football-related brain injury may have contributed to Junior Seau’s death, I wonder if social stigma about mental health may have kept him from opening up about and receiving treatment for emotional pain.

Some of the medical students I teach express discomfort in asking patients about suicidality. Why is it that a physician won’t bat an eye when asking about congestion, coughs, or headaches but might feel awkward, and subsequently not ask, about suicidality or depression? The tip-toeing about mental health issues, as if it is something to be more ashamed of than other diagnoses, is still ingrained in our health care system and reflects how stigma continues to keep many mental health problems in a dark, muffled hole.

Countertransference, or a clinicians reaction to patients, can sometimes alter our behavior toward a patient. If Junior were not a San Diego and NFL icon, would the police or hospital staff that saw him in 2010 have been less revering and more assertive in ruling out suicidality?

The issue being refereed to is

When Junior drove his car off a cliff after being arrested for domestic violence in 2010, Marcellus questioned whether there may have been more to the story than Junior falling asleep at the wheel. TMZ first reported about Junior denying a suicide attempt in 2010:

Junior Seautold police that he wasn’t trying to commit suicide when he drove off a cliff in Carlsbad, CA early this morning — insisting that he simply fell asleep at the wheel.
Seau told police that he simply nodded off in the driver’s seat of his Cadillac Escalade in the hours after his arrest for allegedly attacking his 25-year-old girlfriend — and never intended to drive off the cliff.
We’re told Seau showed no outward signs of being under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Persons familiar with the road say the section Seau drove off was not curved, according to an article about the incident from Yahoo! Sports. The police ruled out suicide in this incident, and Seau was treated and released from the local hospital without any apparent psychiatric evaluation – though this is not known for sure. After Seau’s death, I can’t help but wonder if Junior was suicidal in 2010 and how less stigma about mental health might have changed his trajectory.

This would appear to be the furthest thing from a decision made because he was having a bad day or in a split second. Compound that with the chance of serious head injuries during his playing days, calling his family a day before to tell them he loves and it begins to be even harder to get inside his head. You tried to in this post, divide posters that disagree with you as being ones "defending him". That is such a short minded and offensive title to give some of the people who have posted on this thread. The evidence available to us points to this being an incredibly complex situation and it appears all anyone in this thread have been doing is showing empathy and talking about how painful depression and mental ilness can be.