Richard Blaine wrote:
p3 wrote:
Thank you for sharing your perspective Richard Blaine. But just because YOU had an experience, doesn't mean that (A) you are now an authority, and (2) that you absolutely know the causal link. You could be right, but you could very wrong. As I am sure you know, life is already extremely complicated, with or without the complications of a concussion. But to ignore a whole host of potentialities and realities (e.g. depression) and stake your answer in one vignette and subjective theory is ... well ... intellectually dishonest.
The evening I read about this I was upset and I was quick on the draw. I don't know anything about the situation and I blamed her team and USAC. I apologize for that. Again, I was upset.
Now, having said that,
I may not be an MD but I spoke to many people with long careers in concussion/TBI rehab. Many of these folks I saw for 5 years or so. And during that time we spoke, about my case, but also about TBIs in general, in the abstract. And I like to think I learned a lot in those conversations. Just like I learned a lot from conversations with other survivors (a term I hate but I don't know a better one). And how I learned a lot volunteering for my local brain injury association. Those experiences, combined with my own experience as a survivor, give me I think some authority to speak about TBIs and mental health. For a long time (it's better now) I considered it my job to know all I could know about TBIs in order to get better.
So while, again, I wasn't quite polite early on, I think i am in a position to claim that, in the abstract, TBIs have a huge impact on one's mental health. And that, again, in the abstract, if a young athlete is diagnosed with concussion, it's not a bad idea to monitor this athlete for mental health issues, and to provide support as they arise. What form this monitoring and support takes obviously depends on the person, and I don't claim to know how that's best done (*). This is, I think, all I tried to convey in the post you quoted. I am not quite sure how that is intellectually dishonest, because those statements were not a judgment of what happened in Kelly's case. If you read them that way, my bad, and I'll try to English better in the future.
And finally: other posts talk about blaming the family. I'm not sure if that was directed at me, but I would never ever blame the family. The only thing I said is that it appears that she's from a family where drive is appreciated, which is clear from the interviews with her siblings. But calling that blame is, in my opinion, nonsense. That's like blaming somebody because they're from a family where an interest in astrophysics is appreciated. It's an observation.
(*) One interesting idea in that area is what the varsity rugby team at my local university does: all players have to do a baseline neuropsychological test before the season, and they also have to do one if they are diagnosed with a concussion.
Perhaps, Mr. Blain, given your response, you should avoid reasoning about someone's suicide in the "abstract", and instead, pay your respects. There is a time and place for personal vignettes, perhaps this is not the place, no matter how many volunteer hours you've done. Finally, perhaps this is not the best thread for you to spread your concussion ideology.
My heart goes out to the family; tragic indeed.