The Wait Is Over

A/N (A Serious Topic)

The next installment will bring a vastly underdiscussed subject into "The Wait Is Over", that being mental health and sports. Some of its mentions will be fictional, but some of them will involve characters who have been public about their struggles with mental illness and how it has affected their ability to play. I also will bring in some of the negative behaviors that too often are coping techniques for it.

I choose to bring this up because I speak from personal experience. Nine months ago, I had my first-ever panic attack, and it nearly cost me my life. A week later, I would have another one, this time at work. That led to me being hospitalized for ten days, followed by five weeks of intensive outpatient therapy. My psychiatrist and I are still attempting to find the correct mix and dosages of medication to relieve my anxiety and keep my depression away. Things have improved dramatically since that day in November (the biggest one being the writing of this story and the book "Chance Encounter"), but I still fight on a daily basis to maintain that progress. I hope you will appreciate what I wish to accomplish by showing you this side of sport performance and how life can spiral out of control.