NFL Players More Likely to Suffer Depression, Develop Problems With Thinking Skills New Study Indicates

by NESN Staff on Thu, Jan 10, 2013 at 11:11PM

As we learn more and more about the effects of concussions and other traumatic brain injuries and how the affect cognitive function, the realities become all the more frightening.

Released just a few days before the news that former NFL player Junior Seau was revealed to have suffered from the degenerative brain disease CTE, a new study indicates that football players, on the whole, are more likely to suffer depression and develop serious problems with cognition. Dr. John Hart Jr. — medical science director at the Center for Brain Health and director of the Brain Health Institute for Athletes at the University of Texas at Dallas — studied 34 former NFL players for his research.

“It’s clear that concussions can pose an increased risk of developing cognitive problems and mood problems later in life,” said Hart.

However, though football players are more likely to suffer from such injuries on the aggregate, the study did not provide any indication as to why some players seem more and less vulnerable. Some players with multiple concussions did not show the same long-term effects as others.

“Half the players we studied had nothing wrong whatsoever,” said Hart, “and they had a bunch of concussions.”

Of the 34 players Hart tested, the average age of whom was 62, 20 had relatively normal cognition. However, eight players suffered from depression, and 14 were stricken with a range of mental issues from trouble with critical thinking skills to advanced dementia.

Photo of the Night

Jerry Sandusky has utterly redefined the word “creepy.”

Quote of the Night

“I think it’s important for everyone to know that Junior did indeed suffer from CTE. It’s important that we take steps to help these players. We certainly don’t want to see anything like this happen again to any of our athletes.”
–Gina Seau relaying some very sad news