Anxiety and Major League Baseball

Media outlets are reporting with much gusto that Detroit Tigers player Dontrelle Willis has been placed on the 15-day disabled list after a diagnosis of anxiety disorder. Let’s all hope that he finds treatment and peace, and that players, fans, and the media treat him with the respect he deserves.

The respect aspect is probably the least likely to be realized. Already, SportingNews.com has a posting up which equates Willis’ anxiety with the tendency of professional athletes to be adrenaline junkies and the columnist, Spencer Hall, posits that Willis’ illness is the most wacky baseball injury since Kevin Mitchell bit into a half-frozen doughnut.

Spencer, allow me to make you aware of something that perhaps you and your jock buddies may have missed. Anxiety disorder is not a wacky sports injury. It’s not like those of us who suffer from it choose to be afflicted, like Mitchell might choose a pastry. It’s a very real, sometimes crippling, often misunderstood condition that affects not only the patient but also those their families, friends, and co-workers.

If you could avoid phrases like “quaking nervous wreck” when referring to Willis, a great number of us would be grateful.