Catching up … part III …
Delonte West has missed two days of practice
This situation simply does not seem good. And it seems like it will linger.
Previous post: The Browns will start Derek Anderson
Next post: The Browns just can't find any love
Delonte West misses the first two days of Cavs training camp
Previous post: The Browns will start Derek Anderson
Next post: The Browns just can't find any love
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
I will just hazard a guess here, but if the team told him to take a blood test, the lab will find a lot more than just Lexapro in his system.
I hate the way the local media treats this guy. Kid gloves. If this was Larry Hughes, he'd be Alpo. But the Cavaliers, as a direct result of that idiot Ferry gifting Gibson that ridiculous contract, probably need West. So it's hands off, and instead we get fed a whole lot of politically correct BS about mental illness.
Here, here's a visual of how the pansy local media treats West. I present to you the cute French bulldog puppy that can't get up. Awwwwwwwwww. http://xr.com/dz2u
I disagree. Most psych meds take 2-4 weeks to kick in– they have to be absorbed into the body and then accumulate over time to change the chemistry There's not a lot of point to having West practice until he gets non-crazy.
It's why shrinks (like my folks) always tell people with West's issues "you have to take the medicine and keep taking it." The drugs work if you let them. The problem is that many patients stop– and you get what happened here.
Which also isn't surprising. It often takes 2-3 relapses (with results like this) to drive the point home. Patients just can't believe they haven't "gotten better"– that it's entirely the drugs keeping them under control– until they stop and the episodes happen again
What the Cavs need to do is to make West understand how very, very lucky he was– how close he came to disaster. In the heartbreaking cases, the patient gets off the meds and does something that can't be walked back– like drowning a baby– once they're stable again.
I disagree with Pat, by the way. I just ignore Alan's ravings.
I can't even speculate on a mental illness. I am sure you walk a fine line between discipline and support. That's all I'll say on this one. I just remember the dude from Raiders who missed the daggone SUPER BOWL because he is bi-polar and something crazy happened. It was Real Sports.
I just don't know what it's like to live with a diagnosed mental illness…so I won't be West up except to say he might need to take a leave of absence.
If I could place a wager on it, I would wager that West has never stopped taking the anti-depressants. It's a ruse.
And don't lecture me on anti-depressants.
if you're such a whiz with antidepressants you would know that 1) no standard urine or serum tox screens test for SSRI's like lexapro and 2) antidepressants aren't the treatment for bipolar. in fact they can precipitate manic episodes in bipolar patients, which is why you always use mood stabilizers (like lithium, depakote, or antipsychotics) first and foremost. and Geoff is right in that noncompliance with medications is often THE primary problem with bipolar patients…the majority of them get off meds. it's pretty understandable…if someone gets to feeling euphoric and grandiose in the midst of mania, just having a "stable" mood hardly cuts it, so he/she gets off meds so they can feel the high of a manic episode again. when they do stay on their meds, most do quite well.
I wasn't talking about antidepressants being in his pee or his blood … I'm talking about other stuff. The kind of stuff you share with Darius Miles and Shawn Kemp.
And not to talk too much about myself, since it's nobody's business, but I AM bipolar (which is the politically correct BS word for manic depressive), so like I said, don't lecture me about any of this crap. And actually, antidepressants are a popular treatment for it. All of the various treatments involve throwing stuff against the wall, and waiting to see what sticks. Including placebo.
Being a head case doesn't make a person arm himself for war on the way back home from the grocery store, and it doesn't make a person not bother to call up the boss before he decides he's simply not going to show up for work. The guy is simply a coddled irresponsible nut who, if his job was in the real world, would have been fired. If Gibson didn't suck so badly, they'd be looking for a trade partner.
West is no different than Ron Artest, who once got on the Rockets team bus wearing nothing but his underwear. For all we know, and somebody like Windhorst certainly will never spill the beans, West gets on the team bus nude.
wow, the narcissism never ceases. you need to be lectured because it's clear your knowledge in this subject is sorely lacking, filled with ideas straight from the school of scientology. going against every evidence-based medicine article as well as the dsm to state you know the treatment for bipolar…it is not whatever you want to throw at it or antidepressants (without a mood stabilizer on board). and citing your individual experience with bipolar hardly qualifies you to be able to predict other's experiences with it.
The guy is a coddled nut unable to follow rules (what, his pot bust last year was due to his purported mental problem?), but whatever. A homer will be a homer.
yes, i'm certainly a homer, because i completely disagree with your wholly unfounded views of the psychopharmacologic treatment of bipolar disorder. if you noticed, i never said anything about delonte specifically…i just found your knowledge of mental illness to be ridiculous.