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A recent article in the NY Times discussed the rise of anxiety cases in baseball.  As you read through the article my thoughts are italicized in orange. Original Article Here

Putting the Pressure on a Diagnosis

By Jim Luttrell

It used to be that people would question whether a player could handle the big stage in cities like New York and Boston. Now, though, there appears to be plenty of pressure off Broadway as well.

An excellent point here due to technology and media.  No matter where I am in the country I can follow my favorite team and players.  There is so much scrutinizing of these players through channels like ESPN, blogs (I try to always be constructive but I am still critical), and social media sites that have now added pressure to perform.  Somebody is ALWAYS watching.

This season, Dontrelle Willis of Detroit and Khalil Greene of St. Louis have been on the disabled list with social anxiety disorder. Cincinnati’s Joey Votto went on the D.L. last week for a “stress-related issue.” And of course, Zack Greinke of Kansas City, currently having a breakthrough season, battled social anxiety disorder and depression early in his career.

Social anxiety disorder may be a misdiagnosis.  It sounds more like generalized anxiety disorder.  Semantics, but none-the-less important from a professional viewpoint.  Dontrelle Willis completely imploded last year and has worked his way back to the majors.  Of course he’s feeling more pressure.  He went from one of the best pitchers to almost being out of baseball to being back.  That’s scary, frustrating, and anxiety inducing for anyone.  Let’s not forget that athletes are people too.  Think about your own job and if you were in a similar position, how would you psychologically respond?

While few doubt the pressure of playing at the major league level, at least one mental-health professional raised an eyebrow at the growing number of social anxiety disorder diagnoses.

“I’m very suspicious of that diagnosis,” said Dr. Allan Lans, a psychiatrist who practices in New York and has worked with athletes throughout his career, most notably as a member of the Mets’ staff. “It’s not like catching the chickenpox; there has to be a history.”

Wrong. You can develop it at any age. While Dr. Lans is correct about not catching it like chickenpox (bad analogy by the way), it can develop through changes in one’s life.  The players might be dealing with off-field things we don’t know about. They could be having marriage issues, family fights, issues with team management, etc.  It’s not simply about baseball.  Again, THEY ARE PEOPLE TOO!

Lans said social anxiety was a real ailment but was being overdiagnosed. Once a player reaches the majors, Lans said, the issue should not be a surprise.

Why not?

“What happens in baseball is that players, day after day, are performing in front of varying size crowds,” he said. “At a certain point, they blank out all that stuff and concentrate on their jobs. Repeated exposure is one of the most successful treatments. So for a guy who has been in the public eye to suddenly have social anxiety disorder is a little off the wall, in my book.

See the last 3 comments above.

“In baseball, you don’t hit most of the time and you make errors some of the time. You learn to deal with it. A person with social anxiety disorder would never have played to begin with.”

That’s inaccurate again.

A spokesman for the Tigers said the team could not discuss details of Willis’s case because of privacy laws. The Cardinals also declined to comment on Greene. But Brian Britten, the Tigers’ spokesman, said that Major League Baseball has its own doctors and will not allow someone to be put on the disabled list without cause.

Three recent cases involved players who were struggling, possibly for the first time in their careers. Greinke had had only one dominant season in the minors when he was rushed to the majors at 20. Willis, 27, has been unable to duplicate 2005, when he was one of baseball’s most dominant pitchers. Greene, 29, a former first-round draft pick, is in his second season with an average in the low .200s.

Players could be “finding an excuse for why your performance isn’t what it was before,” Lans said. “Look, there are certain instances where it is a real issue, and you’d probably find it’s been there all along — going back to childhood, 7 or 8 years old. So I don’t want to say it doesn’t exist. But you can’t suddenly develop it because you’re not having a good year.’’

Why is it an excuse?  There is so much stigma still attached to mental health you would think a psychiatrist would say “yeah mental health is a real issue, athletes are susceptible too”. Need more examples of athletes dealing with mental illness read this. There is no study that says anxiety issues have to develop as a child.  If that is the truth then why can’t some players play in bigger markets? (I’m looking at you Edgar Renteria.)  I’ll tell you why, added stress which leads to more anxiety!  It’s disappointing for me to be part of the psychology field and still deal with peers who fall into this old school way of thinking.  It’s time to start looking at situations for what they are and accept athletes as people not some strange mutant that is immune to life.

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Tags: anxiety, baseball, diagnosis, ny times, pressure, Psychology, sport psychology, stress