How many of you "got your bell rung" in sports and later in life had to deal with unreasonable amounts of rage and anger?

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cmacfarland64@reddit

I got a concussion in a football game once. It was sophomore year. So 1993. I turned out just fine. One concussion is not life altering.

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Sometimes I'm resentful my parents didn't allow me to get involved in sports especially ones that required a helmet, but I'm also grateful too. I think mostly it was an effect of having 4 kids and being just able to afford the basics and extra's weren't in the family budget more than a control thing.

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throwaway098764567@reddit

no i come by my anger the old fashioned way, but i did have an across the street neighbor our age who developed treatment resistant bipolar disorder as a result of having four concussions in a single year in hs. she was a superb athlete who still holds records in her hs and has never held down a job or a relationship. she's alienated her friends and has impulse control issues. it's pretty sad really.

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Impossible-Taro-2330@reddit

I was hit by a boom during a sailboat race and hit my head falling off horses more times than I can count. I'm still a pretty mellow person.

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FlyCivil909@reddit

I’ve legitimately wondered if undiagnosed head trauma from football is why boomers are so fucked up. They played in the days where helmets weren’t much better than the plastic sundae helmets you get at a stadium.

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CrybullyModsSuck@reddit

Lead, long term drug use, the world having passed them by, many of them saved absolutely nothing and are now realizing how fucked they are, and I'm sure a decent amount of undiagnosed TBIs all contribute to the same outcome. Little from column A, little from column B, etc.

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carnivalbill@reddit

Haha. When I was in 6th grade…coach pitch…the opposing coach beaned me so hard it knocked me out for a second. I got up. Handed him my batting helmet and bat and said “you’re a grown man. Im 12. I’m not playing ball with you anymore.” I have not played baseball since.

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CrybullyModsSuck@reddit

Similar situation for me at 12. My best friend's Dad decided he needed to bring all the heat he could muster against his 12 year old, and I was catching for the first time ever. He threw hard enough to fracture my thumb.

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lIlIlIlIIlIlIlI@reddit

I hope the "old guy who wants to feel like a badass by throwing a ball too hard at a child" was a property of the boomer generation, but I think it's more likely just shitty human nature

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carnivalbill@reddit

My dad played college ball dude. I didn’t suck at baseball. He was being a dick. I called him out,

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psilosophist@reddit

Head injuries and lead poisoning probably explain a lot of things about a lot of folks our age.

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CrybullyModsSuck@reddit

Luckily for us, lead poisoning was on its way out. Boomers and GenX are dealing with lead more than we will as collective groups.

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hotcapicola@reddit

What's unreasonable amounts of rage and anger? Because I feel like I'm perfectly reasonable amounts of rage and anger, but that might be the case for those around me.

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Ineedavodka2019@reddit

He means having more anger issues after TBI which is super common.

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lIlIlIlIIlIlIlI@reddit

I think they got it. They're just pointing out that people generally don't realize when they're being irrational.

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three-sense@reddit

Jokes on you, i didn’t do sports

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OriginalVayl@reddit

I talked to my VA doc about similar feelings, They found me a pill to help.

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PawsbeforePeople1313@reddit

I definitely received brain damage from the beatings as a child. That on top of borderline personality disorder makes for a failure like me.

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Four-Triangles@reddit

I was a concussion machine. Kickboxing in Thailand for 5 years, Bull riding for 2, a couple motorcycle accidents, and when I still drank I’d sometimes get moody but never really suffered from rage or anger. Sad sometimes.

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RaphaelSolo@reddit

Weirdly enough despite playing defensive line it never got me injured. But that's ok, bullies made sure I got hammered long before highschool. Well spring before HS anyway. Mild concussion, fractured eye socket, rest of the school got real nasty to be the kid who did it. Should have gone after the one who forced him into it. But sports ? Weirdly enough no injuries unless you count wiping out on my bike riding home from practice once.

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cmgww@reddit

Yep. I think it’s a big reason I couldn’t remember crap starting in my late 20s…short term memory sucked and I didn’t smoke weed or do any drugs at the time known to affect it. I was small in HS football and got crushed a lot on scout team by the older guys. Saw stars lots of times. As we have found out, concussions are bad but “micro concussions” are just as bad when added up over time…I had a lot of those. I have anger issues at times but generally can control it. The memory loss scares me though. I’m not letting my 3 boys play football bc of my experience…

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gnrlgumby@reddit

They still do Oklahoma drills in HS football?

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CoughinNail@reddit

Those are technically illegal now. Kelces talked about it on their podcast.

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1BannedAgain@reddit

Hitting is technically illegal in football today. But that’s for a different thread

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CoughinNail@reddit

Has been a bit of a curve learning these QB roughing penalties. Those were rare just 10 years ago

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TacticoolPeter@reddit

My son is still doing them at practice. Has been since the beginning.

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Melancholy_Rainbows@reddit

Not in sports, but I had a handful of concussions in my childhood. No real anger issues, though. I have a lot of memory issues and trouble placing things in time, but I'm not sure if it's causation or just me. I also have been diagnosed with ADHD but I definitely wonder if it's actually a symptom of TBI instead since medication does nothing to treat it.

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NW_Forester@reddit

I had a concussion in 8th grade football where for like 3 or 4 plays I was on auto pilot. I had another one Junior year in basketball when I got submarined and landed back first with my head slamming down on the ground. I lost consciousness for a few seconds there and everything was really hazy for like a month or two. I don't think I have anger issues, but I do get terrible headaches a few times a year.

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ConundrumMachine@reddit

Not so much anger issues but memories of my youth are very fuzzy. Got knocked out cold a couple times skiing. Various other head impact from sport/car accidents.

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1BannedAgain@reddit

Hardest hitter on the field throughout my career. Knocked several unlucky kids out of games. But the hardest hit was an accidental shotput to the head Was also a headbanger, so I’m more concerned about the 1000 headbangs at every dance / concert I endured versus the 40 hits in any game of football, or the occasional headbutt in wrestling. Plot twist: I was a 10/10 angry throughout those younger years and am closer to a 3/10 for anger since age 30. I’m convinced my attitude was due to my testosterone level- which dissipates at age 29/30

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rjcpl@reddit

The more friends my age complain about old sports injuries the more grateful I am I came out a nerd.

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lappinlie@reddit

Haha I have nerd injuries. City-wide weirdo costumed pillow fight anyone??? We “occupied” the downtown Providence RI mall and a garbage can hit my leg. I had a visible dent for months and 20 years later it came back!

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officialdougjudy@reddit

Bmx race crash gave me a concussion so severe I basically don't remember two consecutive Christmases or being 16 years old. Like, at all. Helmet did its job, the crash was just that bad.

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One-Earth9294@reddit

If the sport was IEDs then yes. I had that. But despite the PTSD I have a pretty zen philosophy towards it as a coping mechanism. But I am known to snap right the hell back at anyone if I think they're giving me a hard time or trolling. No question about that. I don't think I'm unreasonable, though. I'm just getting older and wiser and I have little patience for teenagers and their bullshit :)

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DoctorFenix@reddit

Wait... we're NOT supposed to feel all this rage and anger?

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Many_Distribution_21@reddit

Thought I was the only one who redlines whenever anyone asks me to repeat what I said.

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Dudeinairport@reddit

I was hit in the head with a rock at age 12. It knocked me out and I still have a limp on my forehead. For months afterwards everything would “shake” and I would feel disoriented. At the time I thought it was puberty. But I’m guessing now it was a concussion.

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Stardustquarks@reddit

I got my bell rung a couple times when I played hockey, but I had tons of rage and anger before that ever happened...

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tj_hooker99@reddit

Not sports related but prior to 10 we were playing and I was on top of a garbage can and was knocked off and head first into concrete...can't say if that is it or just a wonderful example of a father and brother

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dequiallo@reddit

I've had probably 3-6 concussions. I get it.

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chasinfreshies@reddit

Today years old when this connection was made for me...Mahalo OP.

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Jack0Trade@reddit (OP)

Internet hugs homie. It's so hard to reconcile the incredible joy of sport and actual belief that things could have been different.

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