Delonte West battling depression

[Test Dummy]

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Delonte West says he left the team's training camp earlier this month to seek help for depression and "a mood disorder" he has been battling his entire life.

West said Friday that he removed himself from the team to "get my thoughts back together." He is taking medication for his illness and has been attending therapy sessions.

West said he was troubled by his behavior during a scrimmage earlier this month. He took out his frustrations on a high school referee at the Cavs' training complex.

West recently signed a two-year contract with Cleveland.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/basketball/nba/10/17/cavs.west.ap/index.html

[BudweiserCeltic]

Good for him, and no one should force him to return until he's ready.

[WW1MR]

Wow. Completely did not expect that.

Delonte- do what you need to do to take care of yourself. Our thoughts are with you here at Celticsblog.

[Mr October]

thats sad... he seams like a good kid

[Steve Weinman]

Yeah, definitely surprised and sorry to hear about that one.  Best wishes, Delonte...you'll always be a sentimental favorite here...

-sw

[Emperor Young]

He always seemed happy and content while he was in boston.. what's interesting is that he was on the 2nd worst team in the league. so now he goes to cavs, makes the playoff, gets an extension and is now depressed.. i don't get it. must be a recent development.

[Roy Hobbs]

must be a recent development.

From the story:

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Delonte West says he left the team's training camp earlier this month to seek help for depression and "a mood disorder" he has been battling his entire life.

There's a lot more to depression than being happy or sad.  Depression is a heavy duty clinical problem, associated with chemical imbalances in the brain.  A lot of people (I'm not saying you) think you can just "cheer up" people going through this, but really, it takes some serious medical treatment, and often, medication.

I hope he recovers okay.  It's good to see that he recognized the issue and did something about it.

[kozlodoev]

so now he goes to cavs, makes the playoff, gets an extension and is now depressed..

There's more to life than basketball, you know.

[arctic 3.0]

the fact that he recognized his own inappropriate behavior and took steps to resolve the underlying personal issues shows how quality the kid is.

[nickagneta]

I have bi-polar depression and Delonte's illness has zero to do with being happy or sad. A simple explanation is that emotions are a byproduct of the chemicals that secrete from the neurons in the brain and then are absorbed back into the neurons. In people with depression the neurons that absorb the chemicals get blocked causing certain emotions to last longer because those chemicals are not being discharged out of your system. As more and more of these chemicals secrete into your system but are not absorbed out emotions tend to last longer and start to effect a person's decision making process.

There is "no snapping out of it". People like myself are not crazy. Properly medicated, like diabetes patients, people with depression lead normal lives. Unfortunately due to the stigma of being labeled "crazy" most people will not go to receive the treatment they need and deserve.

And here's a little known fact about depression, when you have it it starts slow, as a child, as short moody episodes. As you grow into a teenager the episodes become longer and deeper. Untreated, as life goes on the depressions continue to last longer and get increasingly deeper in severity. Untreated, later episodes can last year and later decades.

When one has a chemical imbalance that leads to mental illness it is a horrible way to live as one has to learn to control one's actions regardless as to how one is feeling. When happy, I can't go manic and feel indestructible and do foolish things and spend money I don't have. When depressed I can't try to overanalyze everything someone says to me looking for hidden meanings and insults. Hope can never be abandoned no matter how bleak things appear to be. Emotions need to be replaced by cool, calculated thinking and grounding into reality. And medication can never stop being taken.

That's easy to write and easy to read but for someone with depression or other mental disease, it's as hard a thing as can be accomplished at times.

Lastly, your pain is mine Delonte. Take care and best of luck.

[youcanthandlethetruth113]

Get well soon/now Delonte!

Does this mean I should draft Mo Williams in my fantasy league?

[jackson_34]

When you see someone who seemed so laid back and funny as Delonte, I think depression is the last thing you would think he had. I really hope he can sort this out forhimself.

Oh and Nickagneta, that was a fantastic description. Thanks for sharing, It definently gave me a good deal of insight into it.

 

[clover]

I have bi-polar depression and Delonte's illness has zero to do with being happy or sad. A simple explanation is that emotions are a byproduct of the chemicals that secrete from the neurons in the brain and then are absorbed back into the neurons. In people with depression the neurons that absorb the chemicals get blocked causing certain emotions to last longer because those chemicals are not being discharged out of your system. As more and more of these chemicals secrete into your system but are not absorbed out emotions tend to last longer and start to effect a person's decision making process.

There is "no snapping out of it". People like myself are not crazy. Properly medicated, like diabetes patients, people with depression lead normal lives. Unfortunately due to the stigma of being labeled "crazy" most people will not go to receive the treatment they need and deserve.

And here's a little known fact about depression, when you have it it starts slow, as a child, as short moody episodes. As you grow into a teenager the episodes become longer and deeper. Untreated, as life goes on the depressions continue to last longer and get increasingly deeper in severity. Untreated, later episodes can last year and later decades.

When one has a chemical imbalance that leads to mental illness it is a horrible way to live as one has to learn to control one's actions regardless as to how one is feeling. When happy, I can't go manic and feel indestructible and do foolish things and spend money I don't have. When depressed I can't try to overanalyze everything someone says to me looking for hidden meanings and insults. Hope can never be abandoned no matter how bleak things appear to be. Emotions need to be replaced by cool, calculated thinking and grounding into reality. And medication can never stop being taken.

That's easy to write and easy to read but for someone with depression or other mental disease, it's as hard a thing as can be accomplished at times.

Lastly, your pain is mine Delonte. Take care and best of luck.

Thanks for opening up with such an informative post, nickagenta.  Sounds like a challenge and I'm glad you--and Delonte--are getting the right care for it.

[KungPoweChicken]

While depression is a serious issue, I am very upset if I am the Cavaliers. I am a psychology major who is soon to study the subject at the masters level. Not only do I study it, but I have lived with the problem most of my life as well. There is no doubt, depression is debilitating, and can potentially be incapacitating. However, how severe is Delonte's depression? I do not have that answer in particular. But Delonte claims he has battled with the problem most of his life. So why is he taking a leave of absence now? It is fair to assume that his depression must have recently escalated to an almost incapacitating level. But, if he is not dealing with an a incapacitating level of depression I am furious if I am the Cavilers. Why? Because millions of Americans are dealing with depression. Not every person with depression is on serotonin reuptake inhibitors and receiving counseling. These people are carrying on with their their lives. Dolonte is not a special case and he should not be treated like a brave warrior. I am not unsympathetic towards Delonte, and I wish him the best, but these are just the facts.  

Without doubt, there is some scientific evidence for neurotransmitter imbalances which cause mental illness. But the fact is that personal experiences contribute about 50 - 60% of a persons depression. Depression is far from being a strictly genetic illness as some have articulately deemed it. 

Unfortunately, for people suffering from depression, medication is often not the answer. SSRI's often have bad side effects. The worst being that it does not actually correct your depression, it works to make a person feel detached and numb. No highs, no lows, to briefly sum up how a SSRI's works in people, you could say it strips your personality from you. SSRI's are one of the most heavily marketed drugs today. They are also one of the most heavily prescribed. Despite the fact that people suffering from depression are more likely to kill themselves when they initially start an anti-depressant regimen. The drug companies are interested in collecting maximum profits because depression has suddenly increased. The problem is, they are prescribing, marketing, and making huge amounts of money off these drugs without knowing too much about how they work. There is still so much to learn about depression.

I hope Delonte gets better. But clinical depression is hardly ever a disease that will completely free its grip from you. Some days it can get better and some days worse.

So in conclusion, the whole point of the words above was that it would be possible for Delonte to just "suck it up and play ball." That is, unless he was suffering from incapacitating clinical depression. I don't think anyone but Delonte knows what state he is at mentally. But there are a lot of myths about depression that get perpetuated. Unfortunately, many people think that when they hear the word depression the person is a sad tortured soul who cannot function. Or, they believe that depression is feeling "blue" because it rained on your birthday. These are both myths of the extreme regarding depression. There are many different levels of depression, and many people can be productive at the lower levels. Lets hope Delonte is okay, but in my opinion he could be on the court right now if he truly wanted to. Plus, vigorous exercise will relieve depression for a short while! Play ball Delonte!

[arambone]

Maybe you don't know exactly what he's dealing with, not being Delonte and despite your study of the subject. Suck it up and give him the benefit of the doubt, Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline..