Photo credit: Next New Networks

Does your loved one have to watch SportsCenter every night?  Does she get depressed when her team loses a big game?  Does he spend more time watching sports than working around the house, tending the kids, or spending quality time with you?  If so, then he or she may suffer from a case of Palestral Attachment Disorder (PAD).

Please consult the information below to determine if your loved one requires treatment.

Palestral Attachment Disorder, PAD

What is Palestral Attachment Disorder?

Palestral Attachment Disorder, PAD, is a psychological disorder characterized by persistent obsession with athletics.  In most cases, victims attach their mood, self-esteem, or financial worth to the success or failure of the teams they support, which can produce adverse effects to their physical, emotional, social, and spiritual well being, and to the lives of those around them.

Signs & Symptoms

People who suffer from PAD may:

• Participate in sporting events more often than working, talking, eating, or sleeping, whether as an athlete themselves or as an observer in person or virtually through television, movies, Internet, video games, and other media.
• Feel compelled to watch SportsCenter or browse ESPN.com on a daily, if not hourly, basis.  In severe cases, they may even venture into more obscure news sources such as Fox Sports, CBS Sports, or Yahoo Sports.
• Exhibit unhealthy amounts of anger, frustration, or euphoria while viewing sporting events, which may provoke unexpected profanity, dog piling with friends, and vocal outbursts directed toward television screens and innocent elderly folk, women, and children.
• Get depressed after their team loses (even in a pre-season contest), which is often accompanied by denial, scowls, avoidance tactics, and the “silent treatment.”
• Avoid wearing the colors of rival teams and avoid people who wear the colors or merchandise of rival teams.
• Decorate their bedroom, living room, bathroom, car, cubicle, Christmas tree, and other personal spaces with the paraphernalia and memorabilia of the teams they support.
• Be incapable of carrying on a meaningful conversation while observing a sporting event.
• Neglect spouses, children, friends, pets, employers, and other important people.
• Participate in “fantasy leagues” and fill out multiple NCAA tournament brackets every year.
• Apply body paint or odd outfits when attending athletic events (see photos above and below).
• Cite obscure statistics about their favorite teams, often from many decades past.
• Check scores on an electronic device during church or skip church to watch the Super Bowl or other “must-see” events.
• Teach their children how to throw a baseball before teaching them how to crawl.

These signs and symptoms can exhibit themselves sporadically or consistently, depending on the severity of the case.  They can also go unnoticed until the case becomes chronic, which makes the disorder difficult to treat.

Treatment

Options for treatment vary depending on the type and severity of the case.  In most cases, strict abstinence from athletic events, parental or spouse controls on Internet and television usage, and budget restrictions for sports-related expenditures can mitigate symptoms and lead to eventual recovery.  In severe cases, victims may need to attend local support groups, such as PADs Anonymous, or undergo one-on-one counseling sessions with a licensed psychologist.  In rare cases, shock therapy and extended periods of solitary confinement may be their only hope.

Getting Help: Locate Services

To locate mental health services in your area, click here.

Photo credit: Next New Networks

You may not believe that PAD is a clinically-confirmed disorder, and you’re right.  Still, I believe that many people — men and women — suffer from unhealthy attachment to athletics (see photo to the left) or to other hobbies and interests.  Symptoms like those listed above can arise whenever we become too involved in any endeavor, even very worthy ones.  We should take care to engage in a healthy balance of activities that enrich our lives and help us reach our fullest potential.  Taking an occasional inventory of how we distribute our time and to where we direct our emotions can help accomplish this.

As pertaining to sports, perhaps John Bytheway said it best in these words:

I know people who had sleepless nights because their favorite basketball team (okay, it was the Utah Jazz) lost in the NBA finals.  I mean, hey, I wanted the Jazz to win too, but I had to keep telling myself, “John, you can’t attach how you feel to things you can’t control!” (I also wondered if Karl Malone ever paced the floor and lost sleep because he was worried over whether I would do a good job at a fireside.  Probably not.) Isn’t it interesting that the whole sports world depends on the fact that a bunch of fans will take personally what a group of overpaid, sweaty men do? (John Bytheway, What I Wish I’d Known When I Was Single, 30.)

We need not attach our feelings to things not worth caring about.

What do you think?