Miami Dolphins star admits to having social anxiety

The American press is full of stories about a linebacker for the Miami Dolphins called Ricky Williams, who seems to have got himself in trouble with the cops over smoking dope.

He's also admitted to having social anxiety.

The Miami Herald writes:

Williams has been clinically diagnosed as suffering from social anxiety disorder, and marijuana had long been his medication against that inwardly corrosive stress.Yet for many months, he was drug free. He swore it, his agent swore it and those close to him swore it.


More important, frequent NFL drug tests proved it. Williams had gotten seriously into yoga and had become a devotee of Eastern philosophy that, for him, took the place of altering his mind artificially. He was clean.

Then football began to close in on him.His meeting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell concerning his expiring one-year suspension for his previous positive test would have been next week. At that time, Williams (without this relapse) likely would have been reinstated and free to rejoin the Dolphins or be traded to another team, perhaps to the St. Louis Rams, who had expressed an interest.

Then would come training camp. Then would come the season. Then would come the sport that no longer brings Williams joy. Then would come the crowds and the celebrity, the teammates and media, the constant attention that works match-to-kindling for someone with social anxiety disorder.Experts say sufferers seek what remedy they can as high levels of social interaction are about to kick in. For Williams, the way to avoid returning to what he had dreaded was to get caught again.

Social anxiety actually affects quite a few sportsmen. The Royals baseball team has a pitcher called Zack Greinke, who's had to miss an entire season because of it. In the UK, Marcus Trecothick had to bow out of England's tour of India last year because of an anxiety disorder, which was probably social anxiety.

It proves that social anxiety often actually affects high-performing individuals, individuals with gifts who have grown up in the public eye, but who sometimes struggle to cope with the scrutiny and high expectations that come with talent.

The question is, can they learn to play the game for themselves, not for the fans or for the critics? Stoicism talks about playing a sport for the sport itself, without caring about winning or losing.

Obviously, talking about social anxiety more would help sportsmen feel less ashamed about admitting to having it.

And talking about CBT and how it can help sportsmen would also help strengthen them mentally, so they can get back to doing what they enjoy, and letting their talents shine.