I read an article recently that I found quite interesting. It detailed an NBA all-star's bout with depression.
Demar DeRozan is a guard for the Toronto Raptors and has been a scoring demon on the court, but off the court, he has his own "demons" as well.
According to DeRozan, "It's one of them things that no matter how indestructible we look like we are, we're all human at the end of the day" adding, "We all got feelings ... all of that. Sometimes ... it gets the best of you, where times everything in the whole world's on top of you."
It's truly refreshing when an article like this comes out. Not because depression is worth celebrating, but that the topic of depression is brought to the mainstream.
Millions upon millions of people worldwide suffer through depression. Some are undiagnosed, some act out, and some suffer in silence out of fear of ridicule and mockery.
It's also rare to hear about it in the sports world. In sports, you have to act ok or tough, even when hurt. Hurt physically. And hurt emotionally. So when a famous, all-star athlete discusses the topic, people listen. And it is great that the NBA notices. The article states the players union has agreed to put more work into helping athletes with mental health issues, an area lacking for years.
I'm hoping this kind of help trickles over to other sports and also other athletes (and random citizens too) don't feel shame by admitting they have depression.
We are all in this together.
If you are looking for a link to the article, you can find it here:
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22582972/demar-derozan-toronto-raptors-depression-fight-all-human
One love,
