Dr.Richard Lustberg--The Psychology of Sports

On The Couch: The Week In Review-February 18

Learning to Lie--From New York Magazine
"Kids lie early, often, and for all sorts of reasons—to avoid punishment, to bond with friends, to gain a sense of control. But now there’s a singular theory for one way this habit develops: They are just copying their parents."

When I tell patients that the truth is an over-valued concept, they look at me and think I am condoning lying. I don't. But the facts are such that adults also lie for almost the same reasons. In addition no one wants to look bad. Do you?

Professional athletes are no different than we are. In fact they may feel that they have a lot more to lose than we do given the fact that their lies are reported to a mass audience.

It is not shocking then that players from all sports do not tell their teams, or the public the real reasons for accidents they have. Moreover you could see why people like Barry Bonds, and Roger Clemens may also not be telling the truth.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Psychology of Sports

I had so many people ask me how sports fans were going to do without football. Quick--who won the Super Bowl?  It is no mistake that the sports calendar is the way it is. We are now into spring training in baseball and the back pages are filled with baseball stories. In addition, there are a ton of college and professional basketball stories (with the former getting ready for March Madness). 

After the baseball season starts you have the hockey and basketball playoffs--( I almost forgot the football draft), then you have mini-camps, than the players report to camp, then the big three  in tennis and I am running out of breath as I type. I cannot remember what happens in golf and --NASCAR but I think you have the idea. It is like a big puzzle where all the pieces lay out perfectly on the calendar.

The calendar pretty much says it all. If you are into sports you can max out year round.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tom Glavine-The Atlanta Braves-New York Mets

"In baseball, it's how you deal with disappointments and move forward that matters the most," Glavine said. "Certainly, I'm trying to move past that. The Mets have moved past that ... That's the beauty of spring training."

Take out the word baseball and put In Life and you pretty much have it. 

Should Glavine be judged on his whole career as he states earlier in the article? Of course. But to say that his last three starts with the New York Mets will not be remembered, is ridiculous! He will always be remembered for his meltdown in the last game. He did not get out of the first inning in a game that was so huge. That is what they paid him for!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pressure To Perform And Succeed

The Roger Clemen's story is really one about how much pressure people are under to succeed at their jobs and how competitive a society we live in. So many people in so many different types of jobs are under tremendous pressure to succeed. They sit in offices, homes, work sites, and worry all day long about their productivity and who is coming up behind them. They feel pressured by their bosses and live in perpetual anxiety that they are going to be fired, replaced, or demoted. No different than professional athletes.

Many of us go to extremes to protect ourselves and get an edge. Think about the kind of things you do or have done to protect yourself-or get ahead. It is no surprise that athletes would do this, because they are just like us. Only difference is their lives get played out and dissected under a microscope and then put on a big jumbo-tron for all of us to see.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

John Rocker Is Still Struggling

"John Rocker is diagnosable," declares Dr. Richard Lustberg, a Long Island psychologist with a radio show and a Web site (www.psychologyofsports.com)." He seems to be a person with low self-esteem trying to rise above feelings of insignificance. I think he may be depressed. He runs on the field like a pumped-up W.W.F. character without a script.

This was one of my quotes from an artilce written by Robert Lipsite of the New York Times in 2000.

I do not keep up with John Rocker but it is my understanding that he has been diagnosed with Bi-Polar Disorder. His comments about the steroid issue has again put him squarely back in the news. Why--who knows?

Bi-Polar Disorder is a very difficult condition to cope with.  When people with Bi-Polar Disorder are in the active phase they say and do things that they would not ordinarily say and do. People with Bi-Polar Disorder are always at risk of relapse and their medications are always being closely monitored. When they go off their medications they generally relapse. 

The families of people who have a family member with Bi-Polar Disorder will tell you it is a nightmare for them.

With John Rocker it is hard to know who he truly is, but it is sad that he still appears to have so many problems and issues. He is making problems for both himself and others.