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Maybe it was a friend of a friend who died in a car crash.
Or a cousin who succumbed to a drug overdose.
Or a young man in his twenties who was doing something reckless and died in an accident.
Maybe there were guns involved.
Maybe it followed a period of depression.
Maybe you said “how could this have happened?”
Perhaps you heard the news and said “How senseless. He died too young.”
Perhaps you couldn’t understand how the person you thought you knew got involved in an act of violence.
Or maybe you had known him just before his death and thought “He’s just going through a stage. All teeangers turn moody.”
Maybe he had always been a bright, social, guy who you thought you knew. And his death seemed so sudden, so unexpected.
If you know *anyone* like that, any male who is a teenager or above—ask the question: “Did the young man who died ever play contact sports?”
Here’s why.
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Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is thought to be caused by repetitive hits to the brain.
As Boston University CTE Research Center describes it: “The repeated brain trauma triggers progressive degeneration of the brain tissue, including the build-up of an abnormal protein called tau. These changes in the brain can begin months, years, or even decades after the last brain trauma or end of active athletic involvement. The brain degeneration is associated with common symptoms of CTE including memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, impulse control problems, aggression, depression, suicidality, parkinsonism, and eventually progressive dementia.”
Impaired judgment can be a catalyst for accidents and reckless behavior.
Depression can lead to suicide, drug use, alcohol abuse.
Unchecked aggression and lack of impulse control can lead to violence.
Memory loss and confusion can contribute to isolation, self-medicating,
Continued degeneration of the brain often leads to deaths that might be otherwise unexplained.
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If a young man dies an unexpected death—find out if they did play contact sports, especially football. If they played a contact sport, consider helping to get their brain tested for CTE. Learn more about brain donation here, or contact Debbie Pyka debrapyka@gmail.com
A seemingly senseless death can be a catalyst to change the course of humanity for the better.
Help shine a light on this problem.
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