article: TPT: Colin Wilson Opens Up About Addiction, Recovery, Ongoing Battle with OCD

During every pregame skate, I used to look into the crowd and wonder what the fans could see.

 

I mean, like, what could they really see?

 

Could they see the cuts on my hands ? and the blood on my laces ? from obsessively lacing and relacing my skates again and again?

 

Could they see the bags under my eyes from having gotten just two hours of sleep for the fifth straight night?

 

Could they see the pain I was going through from trying to work up the nerve to tell the coach that tonight was the night when it was just all too much, and I couldn?t play?

 

I?ve been an NHL player for 11 years. And until very recently, I?ve had untreated obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD as we commonly know it.

 

There is simply no way to overstate the impact it?s had on my career, and on my life. It controlled me, it almost broke me for good. And there were times when I thought I might never be able to tell a story like this. But I?m here, and I am.

 

I want to tell this story because, really, it?s not about me. It?s about what happened to me, yes ? but it?s not about me. It?s about, hopefully, getting people help. Even just one person. I know, without a doubt, that there are athletes and people all around the world suffering from the same thing I do, or something similar. Because I understand what OCD, if left untreated for too long, can do to a person.

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/colin-wilson-nhl-hockey-mental-health

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In usual Players Tribune fashion, the article needs to be read in its entirety to be appreciated. This one's really good.

Yeah, I think I'm going to get an OCD Specialist for my wife (serious). Her family has a 'history' of bi-polar disorder, but nothing works... this really seems to be the type of issue she has on a regular basis. It's not something I would have thought about, as the term "I'm OCD" is said in 9 out of 10 employment interviews, and watered down.

I think its great that some of these guys are coming out and telling their stories. Whether its Wilson, Fleury, Aliu, etc.