On May 2, Junior Seau took his own life with a gunshot to the chest. His was the third in a string of suicides by former NFL players, and his death brought national attention to the subject of traumatic brain injury in football.
I grew up on the border of California in the town of Yuma, Ariz. Yuma is not only the home of many San Diego Chargers and Seau fans, but also of a Marine Corps Air Station. Seau himself resided in Oceanside, Calif., which encompasses the Marine Corps base Camp Pendleton. Upon hearing the news of Seau's suicide, I couldn't help but think of our military's festering problems of brain injury and suicide. The parallels are striking.
The multiple concussions sustained by football players have led to increased research of chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE, which is caused by concussions and activities marked by repetitive head banging. Of the 18 NFL players posthumously tested for CTE, it was found in 17 of them
CTE is marked by dementia, memory loss, aggression and depression. Former NFL quarterback Jim McMahon's short-term memory loss is so severe that he keeps his GPS auto-programmed with his home address in case he forgets how to find his way home. Dave Duerson, McMahon's former teammate, repeatedly told his family that he felt he was crazy and became increasingly depressed until his suicide. He texted his family to donate his brain to scientific study and, like Seau after him, shot himself in the chest.
The military is now investigating rates of CTE among veterans. Blasts related to improvised explosive device attacks have resulted in many veterans sustaining brain injuries. In a recent study, 46 percent of veterans from the current wars screened positive for traumatic brain injury. CTE is difficult to diagnose, so it's hard to know how many veterans may be afflicted with this disease. However, post-traumatic stress disorder, aggression and depression among veterans are well documented. One can imagine that CTE is the cause of some of these cases.
After Seau's death, many athletes commented on the difficulty of life after sports and its contribution to feelings of depression. During their careers, athletes had a shared sense of purpose. There was camaraderie that doesn't translate to life after retirement. Athletes retire in mid-life and often have trouble adjusting to the idea that their careers are over.
Even as a non-combat veteran, I can attest to the trouble adjusting to civilian life. In the military, my friends were people who would fight alongside me. I was part of a family that shared triumph and hardship and had a definitive purpose. It's impossible not to miss that. Readjustment is even harder for combat veterans. The day-to-day affairs of life back home can seem trivial next to severity of combat. Many veterans never make the military their career, but the ones that do also retire in midlife.
Suicide rates, however, don't tell the whole story. We will never know how many military deaths may be linked to depression or brain injury. Suicide rates and potentially suspicious motorcycle deaths have also been on the rise. Combined with elevated levels of alcohol abuse, increasing military fatalities might be more linked to brain injury and depression than is currently known.
Preventing traumatic brain injury is going to take a change in culture in both the military and the NFL. In both places, there is an incentive to hide injury. You have others counting on you, and no one wants to be seen as letting down their fellow teammate or soldier. Peyton Manning once joked about cheating concussion tests. Whether he was serious or not, there is no doubt that athletes play while injured. In the military, visiting the medical facilities is often seen as weak and is met with derision by superiors. Mission accomplishment will always trump troop welfare in the military. But soldiers and NFL players should be encouraged to seek help when they need it. Senior leaders need to see past the next game or mission and look to the long-term effects on their teams and units.
CTE often manifests itself in later years, so we have yet to see the last of its effects on athletes and service members. Junior Seau's suicide is a tragedy, but hopefully his suicide will not only shine a spotlight on the effects of brain injury in the NFL but also in the military.
