Former Flames prospect Dan Ryder still dealing with mental illness

[sureLoss]

His brother Michael opened up about it in this article:
http://www.nj.com/devils/index.ssf/2014/10/post_40.html

Daniel Ryder, 7 years younger than Michael, has battled severe psychosis and barely communicates with anyone after a promising hockey career came to a tragic and sudden end six years ago.

“It’s tough because you have a brother but you don’t really have a brother,” Ryder told NJ Advance Media on Monday. “He has psychosis, OCD, anxiety, all of it. He’s on all different kinds of meds but nothing really seems to help.

“It’s hard to get him to do things. He won’t do much. I don’t talk to him too much. It’s hard to keep a conversation going with him sometimes. As long as he’s safe, my parents are happy. But it’s tough for them. It’s tough for them to do things because they have to think about him.”

“He would hear voices telling him to do stuff. That’s tough,” Michael said.

Ryder, who lives during off seasons in St. John's, Newfoundland, tried to help his brother.

“I talked to him, but he’s a pretty stubborn kid. You couldn’t really talk to him. He was going to do his own thing,” Michael explained. “With his mental issues, you don’t really know what he was thinking. It’s tough. He’s been on so many different meds and nothing really seems to make him get past that.”

There were never any signs of emotional problems when Daniel was a young kid.

“No. He was perfect. Outgoing, always on the go,” Michael remembered. “Then, all of a sudden things just changed. I don’t know what happened.”

[the_only_turek_fan]

Hope Ryder stays safe.

[Locke]

Thats awful. It sounds like hell.

I wish him the best and I hope he's okay.

[Poe969]

Mental illness is a really tough thing to deal with for him and his family due to the negative stigma around it. Often, everything seems find because the person is doing everything they can to make things look good on the outside and then the pressure finally gets to them.

I wish him and his family nothing but the best and hope Dan can get the help he needs.

[Aeneas]

That's awful. Hope he finds some way to get better.

[Nufy]

Originally Posted by Poe969

Mental illness is a really tough thing to deal with for him and his family due to the negative stigma around it. Often, everything seems find because the person is doing everything they can to make things look good on the outside and then the pressure finally gets to them.

I wish him and his family nothing but the best and hope Dan can get the help he needs.

Imagine the stigma of mental issues and then live in a small out-port town where the Ryders are from with little or no support network around them.

Tough times indeed.

[Phanuthier]

thanks for posting the article

I have a good friend who suffered from psychosis (after ~3 years, he was able to live a normal life on meds) and some of the stuff that happened during that time is crazy. It was like a horror movie, some days he would sit in his room writing random nonsense words on scraps of paper, some days he would think he was an animal... yeah its tough.

All the best to Dan Ryder.....

[PeteMoss]

Tough times for him and I hope they can find something to help him.

Stuff like this is why I always give pause to getting all riled up at players/prospects who walk away from the game.

[Wood]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

Tough times for him and I hope they can find something to help him.

Stuff like this is why I always give pause to getting all riled up at players/prospects who walk away from the game.

Agreed. I feel terrible for people in that situation, where the pressures too much. At least Ryder doesn't have a giant spotlight on him, seeing someone like Amanda Bynes deal with something similar but constantly be followed and reported on and scrutinized is brutal. I don't even follow celebrity news but I know way more about her life than I should or I even want to

[FlamesAddiction]

That's sad, I didn't realize it was that bad.

It must be scary to have someone you love being clinically psychotic. I know a couple of people with metal illnesses, but neither has a chronic loss of reality like that.

I hope that he is able to find a treatment that works for him.

[fatso]

Sad stuff. I hope he gets better, for himself and his family.

I seem to remember D. Sutter saying something to the effect of "Daniel needs to decide if he wants to play hockey" when Ryder's struggles first appeared. Obviously hindsight is 20/20 and I'm not criticizing the organization for how it handled this, but it goes to show how difficult it is to recognize and adequately ddress mental illness in its early stages.

Edit: can't remember is this is THE article, but here's one that I think demonstrates the disconnect: http://www.thewesternstar.com/Hockey...ns-to-hockey/1

[Dion]

Doctors have stated that he had a severe psychotic break at the age of 19, right when so much of this started. He likely suffered from depression for years before, which would explain a lack of drive at times (medications for depression limit emotional highs and lows, and generally cause apathy) as well as the "personal reasons" for missing various prospect camps and training camps.

What made me write this today though? I was reading through some old Flames interviews and found this:Q&A with Daniel Ryder by Kevin Forbes.

The line that caught me so off guard was the opening one.

"Daniel Ryder will never be described as high-strung."

No, he will not. Instead he will be described as a tragedy, and a warning that just because someone isn't asking for help, doesn't mean they don't need it.

http://www.matchsticksandgasoline.co...f-daniel-ryder