Although he’s been living out his dream of getting paid to play the sport that he loves surrounded by athletes he respects, Miami Dolphins wide receiver Brandon Marshall confessed this weekend that he was never able to revel in his enormous success.
“I have a dream home, my house is beautiful. My wife did a great job putting our house together finding the right house for us. We have two nice cars, we have three beautiful dogs. But with all that said, I haven’t enjoyed not one part of it,” Marshall explained in a press conference at the Dolphins training facility.
The reason, Marshall revealed, is that he has been suffering for years from borderline personality disorder.
According to the National Institute on Mental Health, Borderline Personality Disorder is a “serious mental illness” that is characterized by “impulsive aggression,” self-injury, “ unstable patterns of social relationships ” as well as “impulsive behaviors, such as excessive spending, binge eating and risky sex.”
“This is the most stigmatized disorder out there. But yet it’s very treatable. And with the right help, the right treatment program, the right treaters, one diagnosed with BPD can live a healthy, effective, peaceful life,” Marshall,27, said.
To Marshall, the “right help” is the McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts – a facility where he spent $60,000 and three months undergoing intensive evaluation and treatment in order to identify his problem.
While admitting that he is “by no means” completely “healed or fixed,” Marshall told the Sun-Sentinel he plans to help others with mental illness.
“I’ll be the face of BPD,” Marshall said. “I’ll make myself vulnerable if it saves someone’s life because I know what I went through this summer helped save mine.”
via ABC
