Brandon Marshall, star wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins, has come out with, what some call, a stunning revelation. Marshall admits that he has BPD, Borderline Personality Disorder, which caused him to lash out on people, particularly the women in his life.
The National Center for Biotechnology Information defines BPD as dis-ease that has the following recognizable symptoms:
While a person with depression or bipolar disorder typically endures the same mood for weeks, a person with BPD may experience intense bouts of anger, depression, and anxiety that may last only hours, or at most a day 5 These may be associated with episodes of impulsive aggression, self-injury, and drug or alcohol abuse. Distortions in cognition and sense of self can lead to frequent changes in long-term goals, career plans, jobs, friendships, gender identity, and values. Sometimes people with BPD view themselves as fundamentally bad, or unworthy.
Marshall credits his wife, Michi Nogami-Marshall, who was charged with stabbing him in the abdomen after an altercation earlier this year, with helping him stand up and be accountable for his reckless behavior. Conveniently, the charges were dropped last Friday, with court papers stating that Marshall slipped on a piece of broken glass instead of being stabbed by Nogami-Marshall.
According to a report, Marshall underwent three months of psychological and neurological exams at Boston’s McLean Hospital (where Harvard medical students go to train), having been inspired to seek help from a conversation with teammate Ricky Williams(notes), who had sought treatment for unrelated issues there.
“I’ll be the face of BPD. I’ll make myself vulnerable if it saves someone’s life because I know what I went through this summer helped save mine.”
According to Yahoo! Sports’ Doug Farmer, who undoubtedly forgives Marshall and his past abusive behavior as noted in his piece:
Marshall was honest, open and vulnerable at the microphone on Sunday — he talked about the disorder without hesitation and said that he had not been able to enjoy any part of his career to date as a result of it. It was an absolutely riveting thing to see, and a stark reminder that as much as football is a sport that tends to depersonalize at times, it’s still a game very much about people.
Marshall’s ability to recover his personality is important for his family, first, and even though he is concerned that his wife will not forgive him, he’s not willing to take time off from football to fix his dysfunctional relationship. Marshall lamented, “By no means am I all healed or fixed, … but it’s like a light bulb has been turned on in my dark room.”
There is no indications from the NFL Commissioner’s office that any disciplinary actions will be taken against Marshall’s third public domestic abuse issue. Also, there was no mention to head trauma at Marshall’s presser, which is plausible in his case considering a fellow colleague of his — Cincinnati Bengals wide-out Chris Henry, who also had a history of erratic behavior towards women and died after an altercation with his wife — was later found to have had head trauma caused from football.
