The title above has a double meaning. New York Mets relief pitcher Taylor Buchholz made an official announcement today that he was being treated for depression and anxiety. When I read the statement I nearly jumped with excitement. It may seem strange to be happy about this, but for someone in his position openly disclosing his problems is a major step in putting a face on “normal” mental health problems.
It is always a fight to try and remove stigma from “mental illness”. When people hear that phrase they think of the seriously mentally ill, like those who have been hospitalized several times for cutting themselves, or those who hear voices. The fact is that many people struggle with depression and anxiety yet go about their daily lives with no one around them even knowing what is going on inside.
There are true, diagnosable mental illnesses that can be adapted to – arachnophobia for example. Yes, the fear of spiders can be diagnosed as a “specific phobia” if the fear disrupts your daily living. I have it, and can attest to the fact that knowing your being completely irrational does not mean you can talk yourself out of your fear. I could not sleep in a room if there was a small spider in there. I had a full panic attack when one fell out of a linen closet and landed on my husband’s head – and I did not even see it, just heard about it. My daily life was impacted, but the mere thought of exposure therapy caused my heat to skip beats.
So, instead my doctor gave me a low dose of a non-addictive medication to try and help regulate my response. We thought if I could stop my fight or flight from immediately kicking in every time I saw a spider I might be able to deal with it. Sure enough, I can outthink my anxiety when in the presence of smaller spiders rather easily. The bigger they are the harder it gets, but I have a back-up plan medication if my response gets out of control. That has only happened once in the 10 years I have taken medication. I have tried stopping it several times over the years, thinking maybe I had learned enough skills to deal with it on my own, but it is not the case. There is a chemical response in me when in the presence of a spider, and medication allows me to live a normal life.
I doubt many think of a spider phobia as a mental illness, but the diagnosis comes from the same book that schizophrenia, bipolar, major depressive disorder, etc. is in. I went on this tangent because a major league baseball pitcher announced today that he suffers from anxiety and depression and needs to take some time off while he gets stabilized on a new medication, and I rejoiced. I rejoiced because this guy is normal. He has a job, had some health problems, he got depressed, and he tried to manage it. It’s only because his adjustment to medication could impact his game that he has to take some time off – you never know if you will have side-effects and such. But he is not the face someone thinks of when they think of the term “mentally ill”. And yet, technically he is. So I rejoice that he is showing the world that normal people struggle with depression – even ones who make $600,000 a year (his base salary).