Shame on me. Last week, I beat up Andres Torres for his terrible year last year. I couldn't imagine how the Mets possible lead off man could strike out almost one hundred times in 350 at bats. Well, statistics only tell a small part of the story. Apparently, from what I have read Torres was one of the all-time terrific guys as a Giant. His 2010 season was one of the reasons that the Giants had their World Series run. His fielding was flawless, he was clutch and showed great speed on the base paths. More importantly, he was a real class act.
As a mental health advocate in my day job, I was also struck by how Torres has a mental health issue that he has helped to overcome through therapy, recovery skills and medication. He was diagnosed with adult ADHD several years ago and apparently now, he is doing very well. He is now part of the handful of professional athletes who have talked openly about their mental health issues---Terry Bradshaw, Jerry West, Joey Votto, Zach Grienke, Dorothy Hamill, Meta World Peace (Ron Artest), and the list is growing.
One in five people in our country suffer with mental illness. The likelihood is that athletes in position of pressure consistently have an even higher rate of mental illness. Yet, because of the stigma of the illness, there are still only a few people who talk openly about their illness.The bottom line is that most people can recover and move forward in their lives That is why I applaud those people who have openly come out and talked about the illness. That is the best way that we will end this stigma and help people recover.
As both a Met fan and a mental health advocate, I just found my new favorite player on the Mets---Andres Torres. I can't wait to root him on this season.
No comments:
Post a Comment