subject: Major League Pitcher "blessed" By Depression [print this page] How is it possible that a severe elbow injury could be a good thing for a man who makes a living throwing a baseball with that arm? Answer: It made him depressed. So depressed, in fact, that when the elbow had healed, he was still unable to return to his team.
Justin Duchscherer, a pitcher for the Oakland A's, missed much of the 2009 season due to elbow surgery. When he was about to return to the A's, he sat paralyzed with depression, unable to board a plane.
In an article at SF Gate (Susan Slusser, Dec. 31, 2009, http://articles.sfgate.com/keyword/justin-duchscherer), Duchscherer says that the injury gave him too much time to think. And the rumination confronted him with some issues that he hadn't realized were doing a low rumble beneath the surface. He also says that he is happy that he had the experience and is a better person for having gone through the depression. (Slusser, SF Gate)
And that leads me to wonder what might have happened had he not been "blessed" with depression. The unresolved - and perhaps unconscious - issues would have still been festering beneath the surface; and sooner or later would likely have manifested more prominently in his life.
If not for depression, would perfectionism have destroyed Justin Duchscherer's pitching ability? Would baseball have become misery for him? Might he have turned to alcohol to deal with the frustration of not being perfect - or taken it out on his teammates?
And this leaves me with a bigger question. Can we see depression not as a stumbling block to be avoided, but as a sign that we are actually making progress? Does it mean that we are now more prepared to confront issues that we had been - almost unconsciously - pushing out of our full awareness. Issues that were there, nonetheless, causing some Not Otherwise Specified Anxiety?
I contend that depression is a sign that we are starting to say, "This crap is real. It matters. And I can't push it away. I'm going to look at it - even if it makes me miserable." If so, I call that progress. It's not the end of the process and it's certainly not good to stay there, but is a step in the right direction. Think of that! Depression - a step in the right direction. It's a place where we recognize a problem and stop ignoring it; and have a chance to confront it, work through it, learn from it, resolve it, and move on to a more productive life than ever before.
From that perspective I would say that not getting depressed might actually keep us stuck. I am not masochistic enough to say that I would welcome depression - or sadistic enough to recommend that you pursue it. I'd rather we spare ourselves the pain and just resolve the underlying problems. But if we do get depressed, I suggest we look at it as progress toward a better future rather than a failure of our present.
Justin Duchscherer might be out of baseball if he had not become depressed and dealt with the issues he was keeping below the surface. As it is, he now says that he is a better person because of the depression and realizes that he is "more than a baseball player." (Slusser, SF Gate) I call that kind of depression not just progress, but a blessing. One that might even make Justin Duchscherer a better baseball player, in addition to a better person
Major League Pitcher "blessed" By Depression
By: Richard Jarzynka
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