NFL: Aaron Hernandez found to have "severe" CTE

[Lt Dan]

I think you're right to some degree in the sense that he still would have been a very disturbed individual even if he didn't play football, but you can't rule out CTE having a significant impact on his behavior. There is plenty of evidence that backs up CTE causing a whole array of mental issues.

One of the biggest is that it can effect your decision making, one tends to act more on impulse

 

[BGDDYKWL]

Literally not one person here has used CTE as an excuse.

I was speaking more in terms of the general public. Literally any time an NFL player does something nowadays CTE gets mentioned (see Antonio Brown). It's annoying, it's lazy, and it's a cop-out.

Who knows how many former football players, who never even played professionally, are out there suffering from severe case of CTE.

I think what many are suffering from is depression. Here's where it gets tricky. The exact same drugs are prescribed for several different mental disorders if you will. Serotonin reuptake and serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SSRI/SNRI) are commonly used for both anxiety and depression, and work for both. What I'm getting at here is this, is CTE making these people depressed and irrational, or is it simply going from doing what you love, making millions, being adored, to losing all of that and having to re-establish both yourself and your identity causing these people to struggle mentally? One's self identity is a very important thing, and for a lot of these guys, if they're not a football player, what are they?

Does your body heal CTE? Like, is a player further removed from his playing days going to show less damage than a player a few years retired?

I think the jury's still out but in my personal opinion having studied disorders of the brain to some extent, it unfortunately seems the condition is degenerative. Barring the advancement of medical technology or the perfect prescription drug cocktail the symptoms are far more likely to get worse than better. Seems to fall closer to Alzheimer's than say a concussion in that sense.

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

I guess CTE affects people differently, cause its surprising he'd have one of the worst cases ever after playing football for only 10-12 years.

As time goes on we'll find out that there are more things that cause CTE than just contact sports. There's no doubt they help the process along, though.

 

[Spikey]

This does not excuse him as a murderer but hopefully now he can get the help he needs from the CTE.

 

[Shockmaster]

This does not excuse him as a murderer but hopefully now he can get the help he needs from the CTE.

Nah, I'm pretty sure it's too late for Hernandez.