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Re: Did I miss the thread about Kelly Catlin? RIP Kelly [Richard Blaine] [ In reply to ]
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Richard Blaine wrote:
Rappstar wrote:
Sport is pretty lonely sometimes... even more so in a "high performance" environment. Tends to be a culture where "weakness" is something to hide away from the world.

For a sport where concussions are certainly very possible - more or less depending on the discipline, I hope this starts to get more attention. Repeated blunt force trauma to the skull is certainly not an inherent part of cycling (unlike say football), but it's also not unheard of.


I get that. I realized that as well when I was thinking about this. My anger is twofold - first off, and most important, that the journos writing about this fail to point out the profound impact on mental health a (even single) concussion can have. And second that she rode for a pro team, and for USAC, and that both of these basically let her life spiral out of control. But I realize that there's only so much they can do.

Agree with you both. The blunt trauma from a bike crash (even 1x....forget about repeated) is enough to send a life out of control. Its an occupational hazard of all of us who use bikes. Compound that with the pressure of high performance sport and its a perfect storm of things than can mentally unravel quickly. It took me well past 5 years to get past the neural downside from my 2011 crash at IM Switzerland. But like others have good people around me (family, friends, etc).
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Re: Did I miss the thread about Kelly Catlin? RIP Kelly [B_Doughtie] [ In reply to ]
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Here's a concussion assessment tool: http://www.concussiontreatment.com/images/SCAT2.pdf
Not sure if this is what was used, but looks like it is recognized by many big organizations like IOC and FIFA.

Some of it can be memorized. Like most screening tools, it's not a perfect tool, but it looks like it is designed so that its easy to use across the board. I also think the test can be influenced by the person performing the test.
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Re: Did I miss the thread about Kelly Catlin? RIP Kelly [hubcaps] [ In reply to ]
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hubcaps wrote:
Here's a concussion assessment tool: http://www.concussiontreatment.com/images/SCAT2.pdf
Not sure if this is what was used, but looks like it is recognized by many big organizations like IOC and FIFA.

Some of it can be memorized. Like most screening tools, it's not a perfect tool, but it looks like it is designed so that its easy to use across the board. I also think the test can be influenced by the person performing the test.

Hard to see how anyone can game this test with anything but a borderline concussion (and not intending to minimize those). Having had 3 over my lifetime, I can tell you in none of them was I capable of “memorizing” what day/month/year it was or performing any of the cognitive function tests worth half a damn. After my last I was my most “awake” of all of them and I initially failed the what year it is question by 32 years. The one before that, I still have a 4+ hour void in my memory where I was apparently walking and conscious at all times but was on full autopilot. I think the protocol plus a halfway decent administrator is fairly effective.
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Re: Did I miss the thread about Kelly Catlin? RIP Kelly [sscott43] [ In reply to ]
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sscott43 wrote:
I think the protocol plus a halfway decent administrator is fairly effective.


On the other hand, the brain is a tricky thing. A buddy of mine crashed badly on the track. I sat next to him while we were waiting for the ambulance, and we had about 10-minute conversation chatting about various subjects. He was completely lucid and sharp, cracking jokes about getting a new bike, etc.

The next day I visited him and he had zero memory of our conversation.

I've learned to never, ever trust what someone says after they hit their head. Always assume they're bleeding/swelling internally. Damage is not limited to the initial trauma, but can take place over hours or even days after.
Last edited by: trail: Mar 15, 19 17:31
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Re: Did I miss the thread about Kelly Catlin? RIP Kelly [Richard Blaine] [ In reply to ]
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Richard Blaine wrote:
My anger is twofold - first off, and most important, that the journos writing about this fail to point out the profound impact on mental health a (even single) concussion can have.

I think it's important to write about that, but also important to do it outside the context of Catlin specifically since a journalist just doesn't have the information to do report on the specifics of Catlin's medical conditions.

But someone did write about it. Does Elite Cycling Have a Problem With Mental Health? (Cycling Weekly). Not a bad article.

Whenever I hear a cyclist start to talk about how bad the NFL and football is for health, I always point out there always seems to be at least as much human wreckage coming out of pro cycling as the NFL, particularly including deaths while competing.








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Re: Did I miss the thread about Kelly Catlin? RIP Kelly [trail] [ In reply to ]
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trail wrote:
Richard Blaine wrote:
My anger is twofold - first off, and most important, that the journos writing about this fail to point out the profound impact on mental health a (even single) concussion can have.


I think it's important to write about that, but also important to do it outside the context of Catlin specifically since a journalist just doesn't have the information to do report on the specifics of Catlin's medical conditions.

But someone did write about it. Does Elite Cycling Have a Problem With Mental Health? (Cycling Weekly). Not a bad article.

Whenever I hear a cyclist start to talk about how bad the NFL and football is for health, I always point out there always seems to be at least as much human wreckage coming out of pro cycling as the NFL, particularly including deaths while competing.

Interesting you say that - I'm listening to Laurens ten Dam's podcast. A while ago he was hanging out with Bram Tankink, and the both of them were complaining about their poor memory. Now, LtD is 38, and Tankink is 40, and they were hypothesizing it's just old age. And I'm yelling at the speaker "but how many concussions between the two of you, fellas???"

And then today he was claiming that the irritability and depression-related symptoms he observed in the peloton are caused by PTSD brought on by the trauma endured over a cycling career. Again, IMHO, nope. Concussions.

Citizen of the world, former drunkard. Resident Traumatic Brain Injury advocate.
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Re: Did I miss the thread about Kelly Catlin? RIP Kelly [turdburgler] [ In reply to ]
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turdburgler wrote:
Thank you for sharing your story and my heart breaks for the loss of human life discussed here.

I'm glad you're still here.

Citizen of the world, former drunkard. Resident Traumatic Brain Injury advocate.
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Re: Did I miss the thread about Kelly Catlin? RIP Kelly [bluemonkeytri] [ In reply to ]
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Can I just say.

Its taken me a while to respond to this post. I have been there, and i'm still here. There is a certain pressure put on individuals, to perform in life and personal endevours.

My story is that I tried to maintain my own personal objectives, but being under the influences of expectations as a bread winner. Things went down hill as my supporting parties never helped me. They never saw what I was doing for myself nor for them.

And that caused me to do the impossible.I , since then regret those actions, in addition, i wished they my parties could understand why i was reaching for help. Perhaps even ask me how i was doing.

Its hard for to write this, without stating who all these parties are, and why I did what I did... but we can never understand an individuals state of mind without asking them

So, all i ask from every human being, is to ask your fellow human being .... how are you? Before they do the impossible.

Thats all.
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Re: Did I miss the thread about Kelly Catlin? RIP Kelly [bluemonkeytri] [ In reply to ]
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The Washington Post put up a long piece on Kelly earlier this week. Unfortunately, it may be behind a paywall.
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Re: Did I miss the thread about Kelly Catlin? RIP Kelly [sambadhillon] [ In reply to ]
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sambadhillon wrote:
Can I just say.

Its taken me a while to respond to this post. I have been there, and i'm still here. There is a certain pressure put on individuals, to perform in life and personal endevours.

My story is that I tried to maintain my own personal objectives, but being under the influences of expectations as a bread winner. Things went down hill as my supporting parties never helped me. They never saw what I was doing for myself nor for them.

And that caused me to do the impossible.I , since then regret those actions, in addition, i wished they my parties could understand why i was reaching for help. Perhaps even ask me how i was doing.

Its hard for to write this, without stating who all these parties are, and why I did what I did... but we can never understand an individuals state of mind without asking them

So, all i ask from every human being, is to ask your fellow human being .... how are you? Before they do the impossible.

Thats all.

Just read your post and sorry you went through this. Hope you're doing better now.

My race site: https://racesandplaces.wixsite.com/racesandplaces
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