Testing Depression in NFL Retired Athletes

Marc Martinez

Testing Depression in NFL Retired Athletes

American football is one of the most watched sports across the world. People will dedicate one day to lay up on the couch just to watch people sacrifice their bodies for the game they love. The game may just seem all fun and games, but fans hardly ever see the blood, sweat, and tears that are involved behind the scenes. Concussions are a huge issues in today’s game and their effects later down the road for retired NFL athletes can be even more detrimental.

The relationship between concussions and current symptoms of depression in retired professional athletes was tested through BDI-II (Beck Depression Inventory-2).1 BDI-II is a 21 question self-report inventory which measures the severity of depression. The subjects tested consisted of thirty retired NFL players (that represented twenty-three NFL teams) and twenty-nine control participants that met the criteria for the study. They all were tested using the BDI-II as well as a widely used self-report questionnaire assessing cognitive, affective, and somatic symptoms of depression. The results showed that the number of lifetime concussions and the total scores on the BDI-II were significantly correlated with each other. The athletes drastically showed more percentages on the BDI-II than those of the controls. There was even the difference in percentages between the two in concentration difficulty, which was 34%. Overall, retired athletes obtained significantly higher scores on all three Buckley factors on the BDI-II in comparison to the controls.1

Throughout the past decade, the spotlight has really focused on concussions in the game of football. This is due to the increasing amount of short and long term health complications athletes at all levels are continuously facing. Today’s athletes are constantly being pushed to hit harder, run faster, and lift heavier; however, the pressure put on these athletes to perform day in and day out can often take its toll when you add up the number of hits these players are taking each week.

With a severe case of former NFL players who have committed suicide because of depression symptoms, the NFL had to re-examine the relationship with their players and its attack from the sports world on concussions being a health issue not properly examined. In a research article by Richard Weinmeyere, the struggle of depression leading to suicide took aim for families to have their lost ones’ brains analyzed to have a better understanding what exactly might have ignited these former great football players depressions and suicide. This presented article points out the case of former San Diego Charger Junior Seau, Philadelphia Eagles Andre Waters, and Arizona Cardinals Dave Duerson who all took their lives after dealing with depression for so many years after their playing career. Examining the brains of these former great stars lead to finding a condition of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), which is a disease found in the brain suffered from blows to the head.

NFL players have grown up to be known as the “tough guys” and sometimes when they’re not feeling good they will just ignore something wrong with them. This could lead to players sustaining multiple concussions. “In my opinion, taking professional football players as a cohort, I think over 90% of American football players suffer from this disease. Over 90% of players who play to the professional level have some degree of this disease. I have not examined any brain of a retired football player that came back negative”.2

References:

1Didehbani, N. (2013, May 3). Depressive Symptoms and Concussions in Aging Retired NFL Players.

2Gregory, S. (n.d.). Concussion Expert: Over 90% of NFL Players Have Brain Disease. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://time.com/4158140/concussion-film-bennet-omalu-cte-nfl