Antonio Brown
Antonio Brown, a famous player, has confirmed to have a mental disorder (Murray 2020). This was discovered a while after a court order for her psychological screening, which revealed he is suffering from the disorder. He has Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. The disorder affects the brain and is mostly found in athletes like Antonio Brown. The disease is characterized by a protein that clumps gradually spreading in the brain; it eventually results in killing the brain cells. The disorder affects even young people from as young as 17 years of age. However, its symptoms do not appear until it touches the head. Alzheimer`s disease is affecting the way soccer is played, since it is most familiar with players who have encountered several head collisions.
The condition was likely caused by repetitive head trauma or just one massive head injury. Being a soccer player, Antonio Brown was more exposed to head injuries, which were common in such games. The effect is said to result in part of the brain matter to waste. It is claimed that the injuries affect the nerve cells that enable electric impulses that lead to damage of communication cells.
Symptoms of CTE Exhibited by Antonio Brown
His behavioral incident started in 2017, after a head injury (Murray 2020). Antonio once threw furniture off the balcony for having been denied the permission to wear his favorite helmet. He got into unnecessary conflict with people, even threatening to a career for not wearing the helmet. He even went ahead and looked for another helmet, which he decided to be wearing. There was also a video that went viral, showing him farting in front of the doctor`s face. This shows how his behavior had changed. This shows a man who has no judgment on how he acts in public eyes.
This disorder may reflect signs similar to another mental diseases such as Alzheimer`s (Bonfante et al. 2018). Currently, CTE is a sporadic phenomenon that is yet to be understood by the medical researchers; however, it is clear that it is not related to instance consequences. The disorder has a complicated relationship with the head traumas. The disease does not have specific signs, but there are some of the possible symptoms that have already been observed (Evans 2019).
An individual with CTE tends to suffer from difficulty thinking (Bonfante et al. 2018). They tend to make wrong decisions at times since their cognitive ability is deficient. They are not able to think clearly about ideas. They have challenges when trying to concentrate on a particular issue. It is challenging to remember something that has been observed before. Some describe this experience of the head is foggy. Most of the thought formed is elusive and makes it hard to comprehend things.
There is a possibility of short-term memory loss (Evans 2019). They tend to be healthy and in sound mind at times, but there are those short moments when they damage their memory. The individual can remember 9incidents that happened many years ago but can recall what happened some minutes.
Depression is a condition which causes by low moods and the feelings of an individual. It affects the way one thinks and acts. Through depression, one tends to make wrong decisions like Antonio Brown, who was punished due to assault crime. The disorder makes one feel more stressed most of the time, altering the thinking ability. The victim also losses interest in activities causing significant impairment of their daily activities. When the disorder gets severe, it is difficult for the individual to balance and control his motor skills. In the case of an athlete, there is a lot of absence from the field due to the difficulty in coordinating the motor skills. At this stage, an individual is permanently at the care of others.
Antonio Brown, few days after he signed the new contract with New England Patriots, her former coach filled a case that he had sexually assaulted her on three occasions. The assault included force rape on the female trainer; however, the soccer player denied the accusations. Antonio Brown also registered a pattern of not paying a debt. The number of domestic violence shows how the condition has gotten severe. There were also allegations from another woman who was a painter. She claimed that he assaulted her sexually by having sex in front of her. When the charges got into the public, he began to threaten her.
Brown`s recent actions demonstrated how he had lost proper judgment making skills. This is another symptom of the disorder (Evans 2019). The manner in which he behaved made people think he is not is notorious without the knowledge that he was suffering.
Stabilization of the Condition
According to Perrine K, et al. (2017), since at the moment, CTE cannot be diagnosed, treatment is very challenging. Intervention approaches are undertaken to stabilize the condition. These approaches tend to work toward improving the state of the victim but not to cure.
There is a behavioral therapy that aims at dealing with mood swings. This aims at identifying and helping change of potentially self-destructive behavior (Strackbein 2020). The best behavioral therapy to provide to Antonio Brown would be cognitive-based therapy, which aims at changing someone`s thoughts and beliefs, which influences their actions and moods. It mainly focuses on the current issue affecting an individual and their solution. Long-term goals are based on changing thinking patterns to sound ones. It will also modify thought patterns to improve an individual`s behaviors.
Interpersonal therapy is also necessary to treat depression. It usually focuses on oneself and the relationship with other people. It is based on the fact that individual relationships are at the center of psychological issues. Depression affects relationships, thus creating effects with other peoples` connections. This type of therapy does not aim at looking at the source of the problem but the current reality of depression. It usually examines how immediate challenges are contributing to the symptoms.
It will be necessary to conduct an aversion therapy. It will work to enable a disorder victim to associate with a stimulus that may be unpleasant. The unpleasant stimulus might be feelings that cause discomfort, thus disturbing an individual if it is not done. For instance, a therapist may teach a person how to associate sexual feelings with an unpleasant memory. This will enable the individual to overcome the forcing stimulus, thus avoiding trouble with others and with oneself.
Memory exercise that strengthens the ability to recall daily activities can improve the CTE condition. Through a mental therapist, it is possible to use memory frequently to avoid losing it. The more the brain works, the better it will enable the recalling of information. The best exercises of the mind, break the routine, and puts a challenge for the victim to establish and develop other pathways in the brain. To strengthen the brain, it is essential to continue learning and developing skills. During brain exercise, it will require full attention. It requires a lot of mental effort to support the learning process. Through this approach, one will be able to think clearly on issues. Their brain will be able to solve somehow complicated problems that they encounter in their daily lives.
References
Evans RW.(2019) Sequelae of mild traumatic brain injury. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/search. Accessed March 6, 2019.
Perrine K, et al. (2017). The current status of research on chronic traumatic encephalopathy. World Neurosurgery. ;102:533.
Bonfante E, et al. (2018) Imaging of chronic concussion. Neuroimaging Clinics of North America..
Noah Strackbein (2020) Antonio Brown Says He`s Working on Mental Health, Seeing a Therapist Accessed from: https://www.si.com/nfl/steelers/news/antonio-brown-mental-health-therapist
Ian Murray (2020) What`s the Deal with Antonio Brown? A Mental Health Expert Analyzes his Recent Behavior Accessed from: https://www.shrinktank.com/antonio-brown-mental-health/