Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, better known to many as CTE, is brain damage associated with a significant number of serious symptoms; mood swings, cognitive decline and suicidal ideation are just a few. And, according to a new study, up to a third of NFL players say they believe they have it.
Published in JAMA Neurology, the cohort study reported that around 34% of nearly 2,000 former NFL players said they believes they had the condition. While CTE can be confirmed only through an autopsy, the widespread concern discovered among former players can come with its own cost.
“As complex human beings, our beliefs can exert a strong impact on our health,” coauthor Ross Zafonte said in a news release. “The symptoms that raise CTE concerns are real and CTE concerns are valid, but it’s critical to understand that having persistent fears about this condition can take a toll on mental health. When these concerns discourage former NFL players from receiving effective treatments for other or interrelated conditions related to physical and emotional health, it’s our responsibility to intervene.”
Of the players who said they believed they had CTE, around a quarter also said they thought about suicide frequently. Players who thought their brains were damaged also were more likely to report having low testosterone, depression, mood instability, pain and cognitive symptoms.
“A key takeaway from this study is that many conditions common to former NFL players such as sleep apnea, low testosterone, high blood pressure and chronic pain can cause problems with thinking, memory and concentration,” author Dr. Rachel Grashow said in the news release. “While we wait for advances in CTE research to better address living players’ experiences, it is imperative that we identify conditions that are treatable. These efforts may reduce the chances that players will prematurely attribute symptoms to CTE which may lead to hopelessness and thoughts of self-harm.”
The prevalence of CTE among NFL players is still unknown, but the Boston University CTE Center announced relevant findings on the subject last year. The center diagnosed 345 of 376 autopsied former NFL players with CTE, which equates to a 91.7% diagnosis rate.
In 2018, the university studied the brains of 164 men and women not affiliated with the NFL. With a diagnosis rate of 0.6%, the only subject diagnosed with CTE was a former college football player.
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