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A blog post with every single category marked (I'm doing this for scribefire)

Shaun Tait quits cricket

From the department of what-the:

Australian fast bowler Shaun Tait has quit cricket indefinitely, citing emotional and physical exhaustion.

Tait said his love for the game had diminished and he would not play cricket at any level for an indefinite period. "This is a very difficult situation for me to be in at this time," Tait said today in a statement.

"This is not an overnight decision but something that I've been struggling with for sometime.

"A break from professional cricket will hopefully give me a clear mind and a chance for my body to rest and recover.

"My love and enjoyment of the game is struggling due to these issues and if I continue to go on, it will be unfair on my team mates and support staff of both the Australian and South Australian cricket teams - and most importantly my family and close friends."

The World Cup star struggled in his one Test appearance of the summer - the third Test against India in Perth - after a long battle to regain fitness following elbow surgery.

I wouldn't be surprised if the guy has depression, just like Marcus Trescothick. I hope someone can convince him that people with depression can still be successful professional sports people.

Charles Schulz - a depressed cartoonist

From the department of why-is-this-shocking?:

The creator of the beloved Peanuts comic strip was a shy, lonely man who used his child-like drawings to depict a life of deep melancholy, according to a controversial new biography.

The book is based on six years of research, unlimited access to family papers, more than 200 interviews and a close reading the 17,897 strips Schulz wrote and drew. It portrays Schulz as a man who felt unseen and unloved even if his readers numbered in the hundreds of millions.

Biographer David Michaelis, author of Schulz and Peanuts, said the cartoonist was also a man who could neither forget nor forgive any slight or lonely moment.

Charlie Brown and the other characters of Peanuts have been part of my entire life. As a child it was my favourite comic strip. At some point when I was younger, Mum or Dad bought a book for me celebrating 25 years of Peanuts. Most of the book was written by Charles Schulz and had comics interspersed between lots of text outlining, essentially, the guy's life.

Schulz, for whatever reason, was a depressed man. When I was old enough to read the 25-year celebration book, I became quite interested in the guy's life. He was a soldier during World War II and passed the time in Europe by doing illustrations. Some time after the war he began a relationship with a young woman and asked her to marry him. She refused and married someone else. The pain of that rejection was evident in what Schulz wrote, as well as illustrated - the woman became the basis of "The Little Red Haired Girl" that Charlie Brown had a crush on but was never able to win.

So, for me, this report about Schulz's depression is not news at all. I knew that Schulz struggled with his inner demons - a process which resulted in the finest comic strip of the 20th century.

Collatoral Damage

US army suicides hit 26-year high:

At least 99 American soldiers killed themselves last year, the US army's highest suicide rate in 26 years, according to a new report.

The rate of 17.3 suicides per 100,000 soldiers compares with 12.8 in 2005, officials said.

Twenty-eight of the soldiers who took their own life last year did so while serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The army listed failed relationships, legal and financial issues and work stress as factors behind the suicides.

Two soldiers' deaths from last year are still being investigated. If confirmed as suicide, the figure for 2006 will climb to 101.

The highest number recorded was 102 in 1991, the year of the Gulf War - but more soldiers were on active duty then, meaning the rate per 100,000 soldiers was lower than in 2006.

Liberal bloggers have been all over this, rightly arguing that continual combat stress can only have destructive results for soldiers. The question I want to know is... what was it about 1981 that made life so difficult in the US military?

Trescothick on Depression

England batsman Marcus Trescothick about his depression:

"I believe the turning point for me was when I finally came clean about my problems. It wasn't easy, but being open and honest with the public was the best thing I could have done and it began the process of me being open and honest with myself," he said.

"I have learned techniques to help me cope with what has happened and to make sure that if the problems come back I know exactly how to deal with them. There are certain things, certain procedures, I'll probably have to do for the rest of my life.

"It is not a question of saying 'I'm cured' but at least I'm forewarned now. And maybe, after going to hell and back, I can help someone else avoid the journey."

Trescothick

England opening batsman Marcus Trescothick has flown home. The injury? Not a hamstring, not a broken hand, not a groin injury but stress. This is a man who has scored nearly 6000 runs in Test cricket at the very creditable average of 43.79. This is a man whose performances were critical to England's winning the Ashes in 2005. When called upon, he has also captained his team with distinction. Along with all this success he has the financial rewards that most of us will never attain.

This episode should remind us all that stress and depression are real diseases that have real consequences for those who suffer from them. The debilitating effects of a wounded psyche can often be more harmful than broken bones or pulled muscles. People can't just "snap out of it" - they need medication and the input of health professionals if they are to deal with their condition effectively.

We might think that only "losers" can suffer from this disease - yet here is an accomplished and respected sportsman whose entire playing future is now in doubt.

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This is a letter I wrote which was published in last Saturday's Sydney Morning Herald. Last night I was watching the Fox Sports show "The Back Page" with Peter FitzSimons and Mike Gibson and others. They had a lengthy discussion about Trescothick and the effects of depression. They then showed the letter immediately before mine from the Herald and discussed it. Virtually everything they were talking about was pretty much lifted from my letter. Cool!

New Poll

A prize of $100 Billion will be awarded to the first person to give the popular names of the last six antidepressants.

Unhelpful relationship

(This is not aimed at anyone in particular!!)

From the Department of Attempted Humour

© 2006 Neil McKenzie Cameron, http://one-salient-oversight.blogspot.com/

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Less time on the computer

From the Department of Attempted Humour

© 2006 Neil McKenzie Cameron, http://one-salient-oversight.blogspot.com/

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Hugh Laurie

From the Department of Attempted Humour

© 2006 Neil McKenzie Cameron, http://one-salient-oversight.blogspot.com/

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Too risky

From the Department of Attempted Humour

© 2006 Neil McKenzie Cameron, http://one-salient-oversight.blogspot.com/

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Crybaby

From the Department of Attempted Hunour

© 2006 Neil McKenzie Cameron, http://one-salient-oversight.blogspot.com/

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Maturity

From the Department of Attempted Humour

© 2006 Neil McKenzie Cameron, http://one-salient-oversight.blogspot.com/

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Depression and Faith?

From the Department of Attempted Humour

© 2006 Neil McKenzie Cameron, http://one-salient-oversight.blogspot.com/

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Tom Hinkle experiences hell

Not literally of course, but he is having a really, really hard time at the moment.

Read this account first, and then this, and then please pray for the guy. It'd be great too if you could offer him some messages of encouragement.