Anxiety disorders like Aubrey Huff’s largely misunderstood – Marin Independent

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Some fans have been unsympathetic since Giants first baseman Aubrey Huff was placed on the 15-day disabled list this week with anxiety disorder. The theme of mocking on sports-talk radio and the Internet: How tough is your life when you're making $11 million this year playing a kid's game?

That attitude, mental health experts say, misses this point. While fame, adulation and big salaries are the rewards for some professional athletes, it often comes with overwhelming stress to meet expectations.

"Most people don't have a clue about the pressure these athletes are under," said Greg Dale, director of sports psychology and sport ethics at Duke University. "They think someone's life is perfect because of the money. But try hitting a 90 mile-an-hour fastball when you're distracted by problems. The money probably makes it even more difficult."

Such cavalier reaction toward Huff's absence, added Dr. Una McCann, also demonstrates how segments of the public don't appreciate the seriousness of complex emotional disorders.

"If he had cancer, they wouldn't be saying something like that," said McCann, director of the Anxiety Disorder Program at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Huff, one of the misfit heroes of the Giants' 2010 World Series title team, has been harshly criticized for his poor play since signing a two-year, $22-million contract. His wife filed for divorce in Florida in late January. And Huff, who is hitting just .182, left the

team Monday after an embarrassing fielding blunder last weekend that contributed to a loss.

The National Institute of Mental Health describes anxiety disorder as an umbrella term for an array of emotional ailments that annually affect about 40 million American adults -- filling them with uncertainty and fearfulness.

Most people can deal with symptoms in relative obscurity. High-profile athletes cannot. Their every movement can be endlessly dissected and analyzed by rabid fans who fully expect them to live up to their large paycheck.

"It's obvious to me that athletes are under greater stress than they've ever been," said Jack Lesyk, president of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology. "Contracts are bigger for athletes but so is scrutiny about their performance."

Fragile mental health long has been a taboo subject in the fight-through-all-obstacles culture of pro sports. A notable exception was Boston Red Sox outfielder Jimmy Piersall, who in 1952 was sent to a mental hospital and diagnosed with bipolar disorder. His story later was made into the 1957 film "Fear Strikes Out" starring Anthony Perkins.

In recent years, though, there have been a growing number of athletes dealing with depression and anxiety on the public stage.

Kansas City pitcher Zack Greinke was diagnosed with social anxiety disorder in 2006. Three years later, he won the American League Cy Young award.

That also was the season that a handful of other prominent players went on the disabled list with emotional disorders: Alameda native and Detroit pitcher Dontrelle Willis (anxiety), A's pitcher Justin Duchscherer (depression), St. Louis shortstop Khalil Greene (social anxiety disorder), Arizona pitcher Scott Schoeneweis (depression) and Cincinnati's future National League Most Valuable Player Joey Votto (depression and anxiety).

For some, the triggers were obvious. Schoeneweis was dealing with the death of his wife and Votto's father had passed away. For others, the stress points were more difficult to determine.

"This is a source of a lot of joy, but it's also a source of a lot of frustration and sadness and fear," Greene told USA Today at the time. "It's difficult to deal with because it is something I really enjoy doing, but it has become at times a love-hate relationship."

Other sports are not immune. The NHL was rocked last year with the deaths of three enforcers -- Wade Belak, Rick Rypien and Derek Boogaard -- that raised questions about a link between on-ice fighting and depression.

But baseball has been the sporting nexis for such disorders.

"Athletes in all sports deal with anxiety," Dale said. "But with baseball, there's so much time to think and it's a sport where all eyes are on you. The ballpark also is their sanctuary to get away from everyday life. But you can only compartmentalize for so long when there are distractions."

Huff, better known by fans as "Huff Daddy," was one of the fun-loving ringleaders of the Giants' 2010 championship team. Possessing a self-deprecating wit, he wore a thong under his uniform as as good-luck charm when the Giants got hot late that season.

But there also is another side to Huff, 35, a native of small-town Texas who was raised in a trailer park with his sister by a single mother. When he was 6, his father was murdered trying to break up a domestic dispute where he was an innocent bystander.

Painfully shy, Huff wanted to quit the University of Miami after just two weeks because he couldn't handle the ribbing of teammates -- including future Giants teammate and friend Pat Burrell -- who made fun of his lack of sophistication. But his mother wouldn't let him leave, and he blossomed on and off the field.

But this year clubhouse observers noticed that he had gone into a shell. He has fewer close relationships among the Giants as many World Series team members have moved on. Fans also have been clamoring for young ballplayer Brandon Belt to play instead of him.

Lesyk and McCann said it was encouraging that Huff has sought time away because there are treatments that work for anxiety disorders. McCann added that this also can be a teaching moment.

"It's good when people like him address these issues," she said. "There have been celebrities who have come forward. But the more he could talk and share, the further along the American public would be in its understanding."

Dale, the Duke psychologist, added that while it's easy to speculate what's going on with Huff, nobody really knows but him.

"And that's why people need to give him a little break," he said.

Contact Mark Emmons at 408-920-5745.

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