Hoops Star Handles Mental Illness
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By DERON SNYDER
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, tens of millions of people in the United States are affected by mental disorders, and only a fraction receive treatment. Iowa State forward Royce White is included in the first count, but more important, he’s in the second one, too.
White, a 20-year-old who has been on medication since he was a teen, is the latest athlete to come forward and discuss the issue. It’s a bold step for folks whose lives play out in the public eye. He leads the Cyclones in points (12.9), rebounds (9.1), assists (4.9), steals (1.0) and blocked shots (1.1), putting them on the verge of their first NCAA tournament berth in seven years.
“Anxiety isn’t really something you can measure,” he told the Des Moines Register. “That’s why it’s so hard to diagnose, so hard to pinpoint. If I didn’t take my medication, any number of things could happen: It could affect my mind and my body. I could get the sweats.
“What anxiety is, is your mind telling your body that there’s a threat, so it produces adrenaline so you can fight off that threat,” he said. “That could make you do anything, conceptually, but I’m not a dumb individual. I wouldn’t do something off-the-wall like skydive.”
