VY mentioned suicide to therapist

by That'sCrazy on Sep 12, 2008 7:00 PM CDT Comment 21 comments

The VY saga has taken dramatic and sad turn. ESPN is reporting that VY mentioned possible suicide to his therapist, which in turn was reported to the police. Although at first I thought this was a case of a depressed quaterback not feeling the love in Nashville, things have dramatically taken a turn for the worse. I hope this turns out to be overblown. Should it not, however, I hope VY gets some help.

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I feel for the guy

I cant imagine what he is going through. Just have to hope and pray for the best

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by blazzinken on Sep 12, 2008 7:07 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I’m pretty sure his therapist isn’t allowed to call the police on a suicide watch. Isn’t that against the law?

by burntorangehorn on Sep 12, 2008 8:44 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

not under the circumstances

If he was called in as “missing” and it’s known that he owns a gun, then it’s info the police have a right to know for everyone’s safety.

by BigTexBD on Sep 12, 2008 8:50 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's right

My first thought was that this must have been a breach of confidentiality by the therapist, but they are able to notify someone else if the patient may harm themselves or others. I’m not sure why Fisher or whoever had to run and tell espn about this incident. There’s no benefit to that IMO, especially considering Vince’s documented issues with such meddling.

by horns129 on Sep 13, 2008 1:42 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

VY is a little baby.

This is getting ridiculous, if it is true then VY is giving depressed people and suicidal people a bad rap. Contemplating sucide, with a 50 million dollar contract, starting qb of an NFL, because you can’t take some fans booing you and throwing picks. You got some problems and major issues if you are actually thinking about killing yourself. I mean seriously grow up VY.

I love VY and all but we UT fans need to stop looking through tinted glasses. Meril Hodge is right VY can’t cut it as an NFL qb. You have to be able to read defenses drop back and throw the ball properly.

UT coaches had to dumb down and simplify the offense for him because he couldn’t be a drop back passer. We tried running a pro-style offense in ‘03 but VY couldn’t sit back and read defenses. In his last year people talked about how efficient he was as a passer. People said that his throw against Ohio State and his passing performance against USC proved that he could be a NFL passer. He threw a hundred percent of the time from the shotgun and most of them came out of the zone and half the throws were really basic, short passes.

The jerk store called and they are running out of you!!!! - George Costanza

by longhornboy on Sep 12, 2008 11:12 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Wow...

Ignoring your support for Merrill Hodge, there’s a lot wrong with this comment.

Take your own advice, longhornboy, and grow the hell up.

proud to swim home

by learned hand on Sep 13, 2008 4:24 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs

Let me get this straight...

Money and a good job can prevent someone from depression? That’s interesting. Completely unfounded, but interesting.

by Misterserious7 on Sep 13, 2008 9:17 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs

You should change your name

No self-respecting Longhorn would level so much hate on VY after how much he did for our football team. Remember how he ran circles around the USC defense and won us the Championship in ‘05? You want to say he can’t be an NFL QB, fine, that’s your opinion (I disagree with it), but don’t take away what he did at UT since he was nothing short of awesome, and no one deserves to have their hard earned accomplishments taken away from them, especially since it seems he’s dealing with some serious issues right now and needs our support.

Also, get your head out of your ass before pretending to know what does and what does not cause depression or thinking that money can prevent it. Money doesn’t buy happiness and it can’t prevent chemicals in your brain from going out of whack, if that’s truly what happened.

Regardless, don’t pretend to be a Texas fan when your bashing the accomplishments of someone who was great at UT. Ricky Williams went off his rocker with the Dolphins and I didn’t hear anyone trying to take away what he did at Texas and how hard he worked to earn his Heisman, so I think VY deserves AT LEAST that much. Yeah, he’s dealing with stuff now, but nothing will take away what he did at Texas, and you shouldn’t try to or make it seem like he didn’t earn it. Clearly, the shotgun worked for him and for UT.

by Katie McBeast on Sep 14, 2008 11:12 PM CDT up reply actions 4 recs

What constitutes "contemplating" suicide?

Anyone who has been to a counseling session for depression knows that the conversation will, at very least, touch on suicide. IMO, contemplating is a broad term that can easily be taken out of context. A person feeling blue may consider the prospect of suicide, realize that it is an absurd option, and go back to just feeling shitty. The act of contemplating — in other words, thinking about but not really considering it an option — seems to be pretty natural.

VY takes his NFL career seriously. This is evident by his body language and his “extreme” behavior. There’s a difference between acting out of intense frustration and acting out of depression. VY seems to be acting out of frustration.

I questioned VY a couple times when he was a Longhorn — specifically, during the Michigan game and the 2005 Aggie game, when he looked out of sorts. I learned during his subsequent performances that my doubts weren’t warranted. VY is the truest form of a competitor. I trust that he will prove doubters wrong again.

by Kool Hand on Sep 13, 2008 2:01 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I think it's sad

That VY can’t even talk to his therapists without worrying that it’d reach public ears. The paper is legally entitled to the information because it’s in a police report, but I thought it was pretty classless to report it. It clearly contained aspects of a conversation with his therapists, which is frankly nobody’s business. It also didn’t help the situation one bit for the public or for Vince. It only helped the paper get its name out. Sad. Vince is a celebrity and should expect the media digging their nose in places it doesn’t belong, but trying to nab his therapist conversations is stooping pretty low.

by TheElusiveShadow on Sep 13, 2008 8:42 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Contemplating Suicide

As someone who has personally dealt with therapy and suicide issues I just wanted to say a few things. 1) As previously stated, it is not logical. As much as one would want to think that having fifty million dollars and millions of fans would deter a person from suicide, if you are mentally ill then none of that matters. Saying a person with wealth and fame should grow up and not commit suicide implies that it is more acceptable for a person without wealth or fame to commit suicide, hopefully nobody would think that. 2) Regarding his therapist releasing his information, it must have been bad. Professional therapists are extremely tentative about calling authorities about suicide threats. Even though it his or her legal obligation, it ruins the relationship a therapist has with a patient. A therapist will not call authorities upon the simple mention of suicide, he or she must think it is a realistic possibility in order to be willing to create the havoc that will almost certainly ensue. I will give his therapist the benefit of the doubt in his or her decision, because, for most therapists, it is the last possible option. 3) Finally, he needs our support. Suicide is an often overlooked issue, and probably the only benefit this ordeal has yielded is bringing it attention. It shows that mental illness does not discriminate between star athletes or a homeless person on the street. Anybody considering suicide needs nothing less than unequivocal sympathy and support and anybody who says otherwise is crass and trapped in nineteenth century stereotypes about mental illness.

by ryan2 on Sep 13, 2008 12:12 PM CDT reply actions 5 recs

Mo Money... Mo Problems...

Man, Biggie was a profit!

In all seriousness, I think this is getting way too much attention. But now that I have heard about it I hope Vince gets what he needs; help and privacy while he works it out with his family.

"A lot of people look for the easy way to do anything, in swimming there is no easy way." - Eddie Reese

by SwimTexas on Sep 13, 2008 2:07 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

therapist mentioned suicide

you know I may be wrong here but isn’t there a thing called (patient confidentiality). What legal rights does Vince have here?

by vivalonghorns05 on Sep 14, 2008 2:19 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I don't think this is that complicated

Vince mentions to his therapist that he has thoughts about harming himself (maybe suicide). Therapist becomes alarmed and calls the police to find Vince, b/c he is worried about his personal safety. Police write down in report reasons for call, including that Vince told therapist he was contemplating suicide. ESPN and other interested media parties snag the police report, and let everyone know the juicy details.

There isn’t a breach of confidentiality by anyone here, b/c the therapist and even Fischer were acting as they are supposed to, IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF VINCE YOUNG.

I have more problems with the media interviewing Vince’s crackhead mother and acting like she is a legitimate source for information than I do with Fischer and this therpaist doing their respective jobs.

I don’t think Vince’s depression, if he is indeed depressed, has anything to do with football. Depression is often as not a chemical issue, and since I don’t think Vince would decide after only one game in the current NFL season that he can’t hack it as an NFL quarterback, I think his mental problems probably stem from a physical issue. The pressure fo being a franchise QB, the pressure from your friends and family to take care of everyone, all of those other issues may contribute to his problems (hell, him not wanting to have to be the person who solves everyone’s financial problems is probably why he had thoughts about retiring after his rookie season), but I don’t think they’re the main issue here.

If Vince indeed is suffering from depression (and there is no shame in this, y’all remember Dan Cody? He got over the stigma and recorvered to be a badass for OU), he can embrace this issue and help take the stigma away from this disease. Standing up and facing depression publically could be a bigger accomplishment and have a far greater influence than anything that he could do on the football field.

I Am The 12th Man.com

by Beergut on Sep 14, 2008 3:21 PM CDT reply actions 4 recs

Very well said and reasoned, Beergut.

And congratulations on the new blog. It’s about time.

proud to swim home

by learned hand on Sep 14, 2008 3:31 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Questionable use of the word “crackhead”.

by Kool Hand on Sep 14, 2008 9:34 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

what term do you use for crack addicts?

Vince’s mom is an addict, his father was in jail, and Vince was raised by his uncle.

Considering his background, it is remarkable he has done as well as he has and come as far as he has.

I do think Vince needs a strong mentor influence (Steve McNair?) to teach him how to be a professional off the field, so he doesn’t show up to meet the President wearing jeans, and doesn’t show up wearing a wife-beater to see his jersey retired.

I Am The 12th Man.com

by Beergut on Sep 15, 2008 12:08 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wow Beergut

Very well put. Depression does not make sense and if it is a chemical imbalance at some point you can’t “just pull yourself out of it”, you have to have help and in some cases maybe drug therapy.

I hope he gets the help he needs and gets better. He absolutely could make a difference to take some of the stigma away from this problem. BTW, longhornboy, your comments were assinine. Dude get some compassion.

1 Peter 2:17

by HornsFan87 on Sep 15, 2008 11:47 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

thanks for the compliment

I’m hoping to eventually be able to develop a blogging community similar to the one PB & Co. have created on here.

I Am The 12th Man.com

by Beergut on Sep 14, 2008 7:53 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I love VY

I think it was overblown, but I don’t doubt he’s going through a lot. He’s never been injured and he’s never experienced being so unloved by the fans. I think the Titans fans should feel like crap for booing their own QB just because he made a couple bad plays. I’m glad the Titans staff are behind VY and I hope he gets through this stronger than he was before.

by Katie McBeast on Sep 14, 2008 11:03 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs