During the off-season, David Ramczyk was invited to talk at an upcoming conference called Mental Health America Annual Conference. Ramczyk was asked to come to speak at this conference because of his stance on male mental health and even professional athlete mental health. Ramczyk spent many months coming up with his talk. Going through countless articles and interviewing many doctors and physicians. Ramczyk was even able to get some information from different researchers that have conducted research on both men and athletes on mental illnesses and health. Ramczyk was ecstatic to give this talk because mental health had always been a huge part of his life and he knows many of his fellow players should go out and talk about how they are feeling instead of bottling up all their emotions. Ramczyk was able to talk to some other athletes who had spoken out on mental illness and get some insight on how to do his talk and make it as professional as he can. There were a few trial runs when he was either talking to himself in his house or giving the talk to very close teammates and friends and asking for their inputs on how the talk was going and if he should add anything. Ramczyk was grateful to Chet Larson, Lawrence Miller, Preston Parker, and Etrigan T. Slayer for listening to Ramczyk’s speech multiple times and giving advice and critiques to him on how to make the talk more enjoyable for listeners.
Getting to the conference, Ramczyk was a little nervous. He had never really given a talk this important to him and important of a topic before in front of a large audience of people. In attendance for his talk would be teammates Jeremiah Zelos, Maui Waialiki, and Chet Larson. Ramczyk greatly appreciated the moral support from his friends and teammates even if they didn’t talk about their mental health or totally understand why it was important to talk about it. He hoped for his talk that it would spark debate either in football, sports media, or hopefully media in general nationally. He wanted to get people talking about mental health and trying to break the stigma around men and talking about their mental health. As Ramczyk waited backstage, he went over his note cards and tried to keep his voice slow since he had a while for the talk to go on. He didn’t want to spew out all of his information in a short time and leave people dissatisfied or uneducated on male athletic mental health. Then the time finally came, and Ramczyk was introduced, and he walked on stage into the bright lights.
To start off his talk to begin talking about himself and explained to the people in attendance who he actually was. He first explained his time being picked up by the Tijuana Luchadores in his first rookie season in the DSFL. Ramczyk talked about the anxiety he had from going to a new team with an already established roster and being thrown into it. He did not know anyone on the team and kept to himself for most of the time since he was such a shy person, to begin with. Ramczyk then went on to talk about the draft process and his own self-doubts as the longer the draft went on and the picks went by without his name being called. Explaining to the crowd how he began to feel like he was not good enough to follow his passions and that his dreams might be coming to an end in front of his very eyes. However, thankfully the Baltimore Hawks gave Ramczyk a chance and he was so grateful for the opportunity. Most draftees would be sent right back down to the DSFL but Ramczyk was called up instantly to try and help his new team win games. His first season with the hawks did not go that well. Baltimore only won one game and Ramczyk felt like he was not helping the team at all. In some games, he didn't even show up on the stat sheet, and sometimes it was just a single tackle. He felt like he was in over his head and was not cut out for the ISFL. Ramczyk then went on to explain he would be going into his second season with a better support system and some more confidence of his own.
“You may be wondering why someone like me who is making a lot of money, playing the sport I love, getting to hang out with my friends almost every day is talking about mental health”
Ramczyk began why mental health was so important to him. You see Ramczyk is an interior defensive lineman. Head injuries and upper body injuries happen a lot on the defensive line. This mostly happens when tackling a running back running full steam at a whole and Ramczyk throws his body in front to try and stop him.
Ramczsyk would go on to explain that while playing in Baltimore one season Ramczyk was basically going through hell. His team wasn’t performing, he sure as hell wasn’t performing up to the standards set for him. Self-doubt and stress kept pushing and pushing on Ramczyk and he was beginning to slowly break. Ramczyk thankfully went to see the team's physician and just spilled his guts out to her. He spent an entire day in her office just talking about what was happening and how he felt, and he didn’t know what to do anymore. The physician told him that she was going to schedule a visit with a doctor to go through some tests with the doctor. Ramczyk agreed instantly because he felt like there was something wrong. At the doctors, the tests were given and after the results came back Ramczyk was told the news. He was diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder. He honestly didn’t believe the doctor at first. He never felt suicidal so he didn’t feel like he would be depressed. However, looking back at all that was happening he could honestly see it. Ramczykwas told that he would be needing medication and therapy for help to get better. Ramczyk didn’t know how his team would go. Nobody he has ever met in football ever talked about it. Everyone always seemed happy and never really talked about what they felt. Ramczyk would also talk about some other professional athletes that have come out to talk about mental illnesses. Like professional football players Terry Bradshaw, Earl Campbell, and Brandon Marshall, Basketball players Keyon Dooling and Larry Sanders, and baseball players Jim Piersall to name a few of the athletes speaking out on the stigma on mental health in sports.
Only 34.9% of men diagnosed with depression actually seek treatment for it. This baffled Ramczyk. Men feel as though they would be seen as weak and inferior if they were to seek help for their mental health. Men especially never talk about their feelings. Society tells them to bottle everything up and never express sadness. However, they are allowed to express anger as much as they want. It makes no sense to Ramczyk the stigma on men talking about mental health and illnesses. Men are more likely to turn to drugs and alcohol to deal with their feelings than women. Many men will turn to social isolation, substance abuse, unemployment, and genetic predisposition. There are so many risk factors for men and women and it feels to Ramczyk that nobody really talks about it in the mainstream media or even in sports for that matter. Men are scared to talk out about their feelings because growing up men are always taught to not show their emotions. Boys don’t cry and all the harmful things that children are being taught. Why are women allowed to express their emotions, but men have to always be under lock and key with their emotions. If a man shows emotion then he is considered weak, feminine, a sissy. Men should be able to talk to anyone they want about what is going on in their life and to be able to feel safe and not be judged for actually having human emotions inside of them.
Men are leading the nation in suicides. Men are four times more likely to commit suicide. Male suicide has been on the rise since 2000. Men are more likely to commit suicide, but it feels like nobody ever talks about it. It's considered taboo to talk about mental illnesses with men and it makes no sense as to why talking about how you feel is bad. Ramczyk went on to explain how after getting treatment and he still does regularly go to a therapist, that he would contact many of his teammates from either Tijuana or Baltimore and just ask them how they are. Trying to get them to open up if something was wrong and try to suggest they see a professional be able to get help. In the United States, there are roughly 6 million men suffering from depression every year. Many men will also go undiagnosed for their depression because they misinterpret the symptoms of depression for something else. Also, Gay and Bisexual men are more likely to develop mental health disorders compared to other man sexual orientations. Gay men are more likely for suicide attempts than straight men.
Ramczyk would then begin to talk about professional athletes and the stigma on them for talking about mental illnesses. People see professional athletes as non-human sometimes. They are huge, strong, mentally tough people that are living amazing lives. They have families, money, and talent. What more could a person want? However, that’s not the case. Money and fame do not guarantee happiness for some people. Media and people don’t care about how athletes feel because they think athletes have nothing to be upset about. Stress is one of the main factors for people to start getting depression. There are so many pressures put on athletes and also standards that they have to meet. If they aren’t performing or doing well people are going to let them know. No matter if they are nice or mean their comments will still get to a person. Professional athletes are still human beings just like the rest of us. They are not immune to having feelings and feeling like they are spiraling out of control.
Nearing the end of his talk Ramczyk would go on to talk about that after his death which will hopefully be many many years away. He was going to donate his brain for research on the impact physical sports have on a person's brain. The last slide would include many different organizations and numbers for people to use in case they need outreach. There are so many different ways for people to seek help in times of need. You can talk to people over the internet, phone, or even in person. Whatever you feel comfortable with there is a way to be able to talk to a professional about what is going on inside your head. Some of these numbers are
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255) for Spanish (1-888-628-9454)
The Crisis Text Line (Text “HELLO” to 741741)
Veterans Crisis Line (1-800-273-8255 and press 1 or text to 838255)
Disaster Distress Helpline (1-800-985-5900 or text “TalkWithUs” to 66746)
Also, Ramczyk encouraged people to share this information with others because you never know who is struggling and needs someone to talk to. Everyone feels and expresses emotions differently and people might be able to hide how they feel better than others. Your best friend or even a family member could be struggling right now and you would never know it. It's better to ask and give help now than when it's too late and you'll never get to help them ever again.
As Ramczyk closed up his talk, he was met with a round of applause and a standing ovation from the crowd. He couldn’t believe he was able to talk to a crowd of people about something he was passionate about. As he headed backstage, he was met by Zelos, Waialiki, and Larson. He exchanged high fives and hugs with his friends and was congratulated on an amazing talk. After the conference, Ramczyk was getting messages from fans, other athletes, and the media asking for interviews. The talk was a huge success, and everyone was talking about it all over the media and social media. Ramczyk felt like his job was completed then. He wanted to get people talking about not just male or athletic mental health but just mental health.
Word Count=2097
In all honesty, if you are struggling right now no matter what. You are never alone. People care about you and you are loved. The numbers put in this article are real and can be used at any time. Do not let it become too late and please seek help for yourself or for someone you love. You never know what can happen and never know who is struggling.
Players used in this article = @excelsior, @overdoo, @TheDangaZone, @Tomasnz, @Thiath
Getting to the conference, Ramczyk was a little nervous. He had never really given a talk this important to him and important of a topic before in front of a large audience of people. In attendance for his talk would be teammates Jeremiah Zelos, Maui Waialiki, and Chet Larson. Ramczyk greatly appreciated the moral support from his friends and teammates even if they didn’t talk about their mental health or totally understand why it was important to talk about it. He hoped for his talk that it would spark debate either in football, sports media, or hopefully media in general nationally. He wanted to get people talking about mental health and trying to break the stigma around men and talking about their mental health. As Ramczyk waited backstage, he went over his note cards and tried to keep his voice slow since he had a while for the talk to go on. He didn’t want to spew out all of his information in a short time and leave people dissatisfied or uneducated on male athletic mental health. Then the time finally came, and Ramczyk was introduced, and he walked on stage into the bright lights.
To start off his talk to begin talking about himself and explained to the people in attendance who he actually was. He first explained his time being picked up by the Tijuana Luchadores in his first rookie season in the DSFL. Ramczyk talked about the anxiety he had from going to a new team with an already established roster and being thrown into it. He did not know anyone on the team and kept to himself for most of the time since he was such a shy person, to begin with. Ramczyk then went on to talk about the draft process and his own self-doubts as the longer the draft went on and the picks went by without his name being called. Explaining to the crowd how he began to feel like he was not good enough to follow his passions and that his dreams might be coming to an end in front of his very eyes. However, thankfully the Baltimore Hawks gave Ramczyk a chance and he was so grateful for the opportunity. Most draftees would be sent right back down to the DSFL but Ramczyk was called up instantly to try and help his new team win games. His first season with the hawks did not go that well. Baltimore only won one game and Ramczyk felt like he was not helping the team at all. In some games, he didn't even show up on the stat sheet, and sometimes it was just a single tackle. He felt like he was in over his head and was not cut out for the ISFL. Ramczyk then went on to explain he would be going into his second season with a better support system and some more confidence of his own.
“You may be wondering why someone like me who is making a lot of money, playing the sport I love, getting to hang out with my friends almost every day is talking about mental health”
Ramczyk began why mental health was so important to him. You see Ramczyk is an interior defensive lineman. Head injuries and upper body injuries happen a lot on the defensive line. This mostly happens when tackling a running back running full steam at a whole and Ramczyk throws his body in front to try and stop him.
Ramczsyk would go on to explain that while playing in Baltimore one season Ramczyk was basically going through hell. His team wasn’t performing, he sure as hell wasn’t performing up to the standards set for him. Self-doubt and stress kept pushing and pushing on Ramczyk and he was beginning to slowly break. Ramczyk thankfully went to see the team's physician and just spilled his guts out to her. He spent an entire day in her office just talking about what was happening and how he felt, and he didn’t know what to do anymore. The physician told him that she was going to schedule a visit with a doctor to go through some tests with the doctor. Ramczyk agreed instantly because he felt like there was something wrong. At the doctors, the tests were given and after the results came back Ramczyk was told the news. He was diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder. He honestly didn’t believe the doctor at first. He never felt suicidal so he didn’t feel like he would be depressed. However, looking back at all that was happening he could honestly see it. Ramczykwas told that he would be needing medication and therapy for help to get better. Ramczyk didn’t know how his team would go. Nobody he has ever met in football ever talked about it. Everyone always seemed happy and never really talked about what they felt. Ramczyk would also talk about some other professional athletes that have come out to talk about mental illnesses. Like professional football players Terry Bradshaw, Earl Campbell, and Brandon Marshall, Basketball players Keyon Dooling and Larry Sanders, and baseball players Jim Piersall to name a few of the athletes speaking out on the stigma on mental health in sports.
Only 34.9% of men diagnosed with depression actually seek treatment for it. This baffled Ramczyk. Men feel as though they would be seen as weak and inferior if they were to seek help for their mental health. Men especially never talk about their feelings. Society tells them to bottle everything up and never express sadness. However, they are allowed to express anger as much as they want. It makes no sense to Ramczyk the stigma on men talking about mental health and illnesses. Men are more likely to turn to drugs and alcohol to deal with their feelings than women. Many men will turn to social isolation, substance abuse, unemployment, and genetic predisposition. There are so many risk factors for men and women and it feels to Ramczyk that nobody really talks about it in the mainstream media or even in sports for that matter. Men are scared to talk out about their feelings because growing up men are always taught to not show their emotions. Boys don’t cry and all the harmful things that children are being taught. Why are women allowed to express their emotions, but men have to always be under lock and key with their emotions. If a man shows emotion then he is considered weak, feminine, a sissy. Men should be able to talk to anyone they want about what is going on in their life and to be able to feel safe and not be judged for actually having human emotions inside of them.
Men are leading the nation in suicides. Men are four times more likely to commit suicide. Male suicide has been on the rise since 2000. Men are more likely to commit suicide, but it feels like nobody ever talks about it. It's considered taboo to talk about mental illnesses with men and it makes no sense as to why talking about how you feel is bad. Ramczyk went on to explain how after getting treatment and he still does regularly go to a therapist, that he would contact many of his teammates from either Tijuana or Baltimore and just ask them how they are. Trying to get them to open up if something was wrong and try to suggest they see a professional be able to get help. In the United States, there are roughly 6 million men suffering from depression every year. Many men will also go undiagnosed for their depression because they misinterpret the symptoms of depression for something else. Also, Gay and Bisexual men are more likely to develop mental health disorders compared to other man sexual orientations. Gay men are more likely for suicide attempts than straight men.
Ramczyk would then begin to talk about professional athletes and the stigma on them for talking about mental illnesses. People see professional athletes as non-human sometimes. They are huge, strong, mentally tough people that are living amazing lives. They have families, money, and talent. What more could a person want? However, that’s not the case. Money and fame do not guarantee happiness for some people. Media and people don’t care about how athletes feel because they think athletes have nothing to be upset about. Stress is one of the main factors for people to start getting depression. There are so many pressures put on athletes and also standards that they have to meet. If they aren’t performing or doing well people are going to let them know. No matter if they are nice or mean their comments will still get to a person. Professional athletes are still human beings just like the rest of us. They are not immune to having feelings and feeling like they are spiraling out of control.
Nearing the end of his talk Ramczyk would go on to talk about that after his death which will hopefully be many many years away. He was going to donate his brain for research on the impact physical sports have on a person's brain. The last slide would include many different organizations and numbers for people to use in case they need outreach. There are so many different ways for people to seek help in times of need. You can talk to people over the internet, phone, or even in person. Whatever you feel comfortable with there is a way to be able to talk to a professional about what is going on inside your head. Some of these numbers are
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255) for Spanish (1-888-628-9454)
The Crisis Text Line (Text “HELLO” to 741741)
Veterans Crisis Line (1-800-273-8255 and press 1 or text to 838255)
Disaster Distress Helpline (1-800-985-5900 or text “TalkWithUs” to 66746)
Also, Ramczyk encouraged people to share this information with others because you never know who is struggling and needs someone to talk to. Everyone feels and expresses emotions differently and people might be able to hide how they feel better than others. Your best friend or even a family member could be struggling right now and you would never know it. It's better to ask and give help now than when it's too late and you'll never get to help them ever again.
As Ramczyk closed up his talk, he was met with a round of applause and a standing ovation from the crowd. He couldn’t believe he was able to talk to a crowd of people about something he was passionate about. As he headed backstage, he was met by Zelos, Waialiki, and Larson. He exchanged high fives and hugs with his friends and was congratulated on an amazing talk. After the conference, Ramczyk was getting messages from fans, other athletes, and the media asking for interviews. The talk was a huge success, and everyone was talking about it all over the media and social media. Ramczyk felt like his job was completed then. He wanted to get people talking about not just male or athletic mental health but just mental health.
Word Count=2097
In all honesty, if you are struggling right now no matter what. You are never alone. People care about you and you are loved. The numbers put in this article are real and can be used at any time. Do not let it become too late and please seek help for yourself or for someone you love. You never know what can happen and never know who is struggling.
Players used in this article = @
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