[Houston Press] Royce White Battles Anxiety in the Brutal Spotlight of Pro Sports

Was going to make another thread but will post here instead...

http://blog.chron.com/jeromesolomon/2012/10/royce-white-needs-and-has-the-rockets-support/


One way for Royce to beat fear of flying...



Good luck Royce, your fans are rooting for ya!

 

Great article, Jeff.

 

Props Jeff

 

i hope he overcome it, somehow. guy has so much potential to be a star

 

About 10 years ago I also had to deal with anxiety issues and panic attacks. It lasted for about 5-6 years. The mental torment can be hellish. It was hard to breath, sleep or function. I also became paranoid, lost my trust in people and became very moody.

I thank God that I was able to overcome that dreadful condition.

I wasn't going to say anything, because it can be a little embarrassing as a man to go through these things, but I was able to beat it and overcome, and I hope and pray that Royce to can beat it.

 

Thanks for sharing. I made a similar post in the other Royce thread.

May I ask what helped you return to "normal"?

 

I think if White were suffering from post traumatic stress instead, more fans would be more sympathetic and less concerned about the basketball aspect. No one would be calling him a "head case" or expecting him to just get over it. White's created a lot of awareness about his anxiety, but some cannot grasp the idea of having a disorder without an external cause like war or childhood trauma. They expect his anxiety to never affect his day to day life.

 

I used to get them sporadically as a kid too, then I had a relationship breakdown at 28, lost my house that I owned, cars, business and everything that I had worked for...that's when they came back full force.

There were many times that I couldn't get to sleep because I felt I couldn't breath, and my heart was beating so fast that I thought I was going to have a heart attack.

The medications helped me sleep, but did nothing for the anxiety. I met my wife we had children and they came back again, I couldn't sleep...I had to watch my children while they were asleep, because of the mind games that this condition can play on you. Always thinking the worst, and overplaying every situation in your mind until it was hard to breath and the panic would set in.

It wasn't until I re-dedicated myself to my Christian faith and started going to church that the anxiety started to dissipate.

Now if I feel the onset of the attack, or feel overcome with worry I'm able to deal with it, especially when I see how my little daughter is dealing with her medical issues like a trooper, that has helped me to 'man up'.


That was pretty hard to put out there on this forum for all to see, but if it helps those who are out there that are struggling with this condition to know that it can be beat, then good.

 

Learning to trust people again,
Training my mind not to over think things and worry (especially just before bed),
The companionship of my wife,
Quitting drugs and drink,
Going to church and
My faith in God.

That is what I believe helped me beat it.

I also learnt to enjoy my own company, and to also take control of my thoughts.

 

Great article Jeff.

Saving our Rockets once again.

 

I'm married to a wonderful woman, who through no fault of her own, suffers from a severe anxiety disorder, and who is prone to debilitating panic attacks. It makes no sense to those of us who don't experience them, and we try to in vain to talk the person out of it, but in the end, treatment and medication are sometimes the only hope a person with this disorder has.

It's taken a significantly long time, and many times I've had to explain why I'm the only one showing up to our son's school function or to a parent-teacher meeting or even a social gathering, but she's been able to finally make enough progress to where she can go out in public and do the things she used to love doing. But it wasn't easy and I've had to be so patient when so many times I wanted to yell at her for doing this to me, but then I remind myself that she's not and this is not about me.

So, I try very hard to explain to anyone who doesn't understand what this person is going through, because in their eyes, this seems like a controllable or even avoidable situation. Only through patience, learning and love can we hope to provide enough balance and support to help the ones unfortunate enough to be disabled by this disease. Without proper support, people stricken by anxiety and panic disorders would know only despair and isolation, and would live unfulfilled lives.

 

I gotta spread some rep around. But thanks for your response.

Thanks a lot for your writeup and perspective too, Jeff. Fans need that.

 

I just read your post in the other thread, you basically hit the nail on the head mate.

 

I have experienced panic attacks, especially at night. Felt like I couldn't breathe. My daughter also struggles with anxiety. Paxil is like a wonder drug but it does have some irritating side effects. We have both experienced a good deal of progress. My heart goes out to Royce. This is a manageable problem, improvement is common.

 

I hope Royce overcomes or controls his anxiety problems.
He's just a rookie and that's probably enough anxiety that he has to go through.

 

My dad used to have them bad, but they faded away in his late 30's and he probably hasn't had one in the past 20 years. My only residual inheritance was getting night terrors until I was 8-10. The good thing about those is that you don't remember them for the most part.

I feel for Royce, but he's gonna deal with this his whole playing career without a doubt. To good fans like us, we treat his psychiatric illness like any other medical illness, which we should. But that also has some strings attached. It would be the same thing as saying Dejuan Blair's draft stock fell because of the fact that he has no ACL's. Teams consider all medical illnesses because they impact the way that particular player will be able to perform for the team. Thus, White's stock fell because of these issues, and his value to the Rockets will also be in flux because of them too. We're all rooting for him though, hopefully he realizes that.