KUIU / Sitka founder Jason Hairston dies. Concussions to blame?

It was with great sadness that I read of the suicide death of Jason Hairston. Hairston was the co-founder of the hunting clothing company Sitka, which he sold and then founded the ultra-high-performance KUIU brand of hunting clothing.

I met Hariston and spoke to him at the SCI show last year. I told him I greatly admire his brand, innovation, and his direct-to-consumer business model. He was very nice and engaging. I very much admire him as an entrepreneur and businessperson.

Hairston’s death leaves many questions about traumatic brain injuries and their link to sudden suicidal impulses.

Hairston was a high school, college, and professional football player. He suddenly killed himself and according to his wife and close friends he had shown no signs of depression or warning signals of suicidal behavior. He apparently just snapped.

We need to take a much, much harder look at football-sustained concussions and other TBIs and study with much greater rigor their link to suicides. Something very, very sinister seems to have appeared here and it seems to be getting worse.

RIP Jason Hairston. I hope his death can somehow hurry much-needed research because fine young people are dying at an alarming rate and the causes need to be understood.

Grouse

This is an extremely sad story that has become all too common. Rather than focus on concussions, I feel our country and society need to do more to address mental health as a whole. The resources are scarce and the stigma surrounding mental illnesses are unbelievable whether concussion-linked or not.

Now with regards to football and concussions, media has already ran away with the hype train. This is a topic near and dear to my heart as a coach. There is a clear and obvious link to sports and injuries of all types, but let’s not single out football. Did you know that statistically more concussions happen per person in soccer than in football? Also, people have to consider that high school and youth football are about as similar to professional football as golf and hockey are to each other. Some of the fastest kids I’ve ever coached at a mid-sized high school couldn’t keep up with 280# defensive ends in the NFL. Also, the typical NFL player who nears 30 has probably played tackle football for 15+ years. 99% of athletes will never tackle or collide with someone after age 18.

Football is safer than it’s ever been with regards to concussions. Teams now have cushioned pads to put over their helmets at practice. The MSHSL mandates only minutes per week of live contact. There are mandated baseline tests. Trainers are at every game. All coaches are attending heads up tackling clinics. Rules like targeting and eliminating blind-side blocks have been implemented at various levels. Go watch your area high school practice and you will see more schematic coaching than physicality. What has soccer, baseball, softball, basketball, or even volleyball done to make their games safer with regard to head injuries? Our district had kids with concussions in all those sports.

This is a great show on the topic. It really explains the cause of what happens.

League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis

You always hear depression is the cause for suicide but I wonder if rage is the reason sometimes? A person can do irrational things in a fit of rage.

suzuki wrote:

You always hear depression is the cause for suicide but I wonder if rage is the reason sometimes? A person can do irrational things in a fit of rage.

I’ve always wondered the same thing. We always talk about depression being the root cause, but what about rage or Bi-polar disorder? I happen to know someone with Bi-polar disorder and they will admit they have contemplated suicide in a fit of rage…

Mental illness is dang nearly impossible to diagnose. One doctor may believe you’re experiencing X, and the other Y…Without physically being able to study what exactly your mind is saying, it comes down to a guessing game of what the person expresses on the outside…and with mental illness, what someone expresses is almost always different than what their mind is telling them…and that’s the root of the problem, thus the never ending cycle of mis-diagnosis and guessing continues. Then we throw medication at what we believe is the problem, hoping it doesn’t make it worse and we don’t experience a loss of life…

Prayers for his family. And since he was home alone with his son, I sure hope he didn’t see what happened to the person he looked up to and depended on for support…

suzuki wrote:

You always hear depression is the cause for suicide but I wonder if rage is the reason sometimes? A person can do irrational things in a fit of rage.

I’m sure in some rare cases it’s rage and of coarse, the circumstances vary. The most common cause for self inflected isDepersonalization. In most extreme cases of Depression, Anxiety, Panic Disorders, Insomnia, Bi-Polar,…and more an individual “disconnects” from their body and has an experience where they don’t feel real or on the outside looking in. Because you don’t feel “yourself”, feel numb,or can not feel the source; people suffering with this will often self inflict pain. It gives a sensation of “yes I am real” or isolates pain to a physical point on their body that they can identify. Very unfortunate, but most of this is kept to themselves and not shared. Someone that frequently cuts themselves will keep it hidden and it goes undetected for way too long – often escalating to a point where they take their life.

The other common retreat from this is drugs. They take depressants, sleeping aids, or any other drug that typically slows the response of the brain. Overdose then becomes the end result.

In the most extreme cases, its the desire to end the misery that drives them to wanting to terminate their life.

My understanding and concern for people with mental illnesses has changed beyond belief. I had a couple friends commit suicide, family members that deal with extreme depression and anxiety, and a few close friends that suffer with this. Going to psychiatrist meetings with them has opened my eyes to more than i thought I would ever know and understand. It’s pure hell for someone when they go through depersonalization. It’s your brain’s way of protecting itself and yet you have no clue to what is real or fake

I agree that we need more awareness and emphasis on diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders in this country.

As part of that awareness, I think we need to recognize football for what it is: A risk factor. Playing football at any level means potential brain damage may have occurred. Like exposure to a dangerous chemical, the longer the person played football and the more they played it, the higher the risk and the more this risk must be considered as a possible factor.

As with any mental illness, the person suffering it may be the LEAST able to recognize that they are sick.

Therefore, I think it’s time to build awareness in spouses, parents, and everyone else to speed up connecting of the dots. Bottom line: Playing football in the past means elevated risk. Add this to any level of behavior changes, mood changes, personality changes, etc and we should assume EXTREME risk and do whatever is necessary to get the person evaluated by professionals.

I’m sorry, but I think we need to get past football’s fan/player/coaches/teams “don’t look at us, look at them” denial problem when it comes to TBIs.

Pointing to other sports and saying there are concussions over there too is missing the point. NO other sport involves contact to the head on an every day, every game basis the way football does. The fact that this may or may not produce fewer diagnosable concussions than sport x or sport y misses the point: We need to know much more about the cumulative effects of all head traumas, not just concussions, but even “minor” head traumas that are sustained over time.

If these head traumas are producing ticking time bombs that could end in a tragic death like Hairston and many, many others, EVERYONE needs to know about it.

Grouse

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

I agree that we need more awareness and emphasis on diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders in this country.

As part of that awareness, I think we need to recognize football for what it is: A risk factor. Playing football at any level means potential brain damage may have occurred. Like exposure to a dangerous chemical, the longer the person played football and the more they played it, the higher the risk and the more this risk must be considered as a possible factor.

As with any mental illness, the person suffering it may be the LEAST able to recognize that they are sick.

Therefore, I think it’s time to build awareness in spouses, parents, and everyone else to speed up connecting of the dots. Bottom line: Playing football in the past means elevated risk. Add this to any level of behavior changes, mood changes, personality changes, etc and we should assume EXTREME risk and do whatever is necessary to get the person evaluated by professionals.

I’m sorry, but I think we need to get past football’s fan/player/coaches/teams “don’t look at us, look at them” denial problem when it comes to TBIs.

Pointing to other sports and saying there are concussions over there too is missing the point. NO other sport involves contact to the head on an every day, every game basis the way football does. The fact that this may or may not produce fewer diagnosable concussions than sport x or sport y misses the point: We need to know much more about the cumulative effects of all head traumas, not just concussions, but even “minor” head traumas that are sustained over time.

If these head traumas are producing ticking time bombs that could end in a tragic death like Hairston and many, many others, EVERYONE needs to know about it.

Grouse

NO other sport involves contact to the head on an every day, every game basis the way football does

That’s simply a false, uneducated statement that doesn’t help address the issue. Go watch a soccer game and tell me how many times a ball is headed in a couple hours. If you think that is not comparable, go have someone kick a soccer ball at your face as hard as they can and try to strategically position your head in front of it without any helmet or safeguard.

Now go take a comparative look at the average high school football team and tell me how many times a cornerback, safety, kicker, linebacker, etc. is hit directly in the head. I haven’t seen a cornerback at the high school level get blatantly hit in the head in years. I will agree that some linemen regularly collide with their helmet if not coached properly, and that all positions can as well in certain situations. Football’s concussions are more often caused by the ground then other direct blows to the head. Football is played on grass. Basketball, Hockey, Gymnastics, Volleyball all also have concussions caused by the much harder courts/arenas they compete on.

There are far too many self perceived experts. Before football gets further scrutinized I urge people to go watch local practices, participate in clinics, or get involved in the flag football movement that’s now taking place for young kids through 6th grade.

Edit: Stats per our AD/Dean of Students for the 2017-2018 school year that I asked for at lunch when I showed him this topic

-Our district had 2 concussions that were football related with over 70 athletes on the team 9-12 at a AAA school.

-Our volleyball team had 2 confirmed also with ~45 girls involved.

-Our soccer team had 4 confirmed with a program of 28 student athletes.

-Our playground was the source of 6 confirmed concussions

-Elementary PE was the source of 1 confirmed concussion

Concussions are ONE source of injury to the brain that can impact mental health with repeated occurrences over years and years. There are far more people who have mental illnesses (diagnosed or undiagnosed) that have absolutely NOTHING to do with concussions or athletics.

The real issue is that the resources to combat mental illnesses are scarce. Parents today grew up in a generation when mental illnesses were rarely recognized. Now when children have mental illnesses (again from most cases having nothing to do with trauma, sports, etc.), those in positions of power or responsibility have never really dealt with them.

Bucky, I’m not arguing that football hasn’t changed. Soccer has also made changes, many leagues now forbid head contact with the ball and incidental contact means the player needs to be taken out of the game and evaluated. So again, pointing the finger “over there” helps no one.

You’re also pointing to levels of diagnosed concussions as evidence of the “safety” of football. The problem is as I pointed out. There are increasing concerns and evidence that there may be more to it than just concussions. If football is now so head-safe, why are players still wearing helmets? They aren’t wearing helmets in basketball.

The problem with the changes you point to is that they are very, very recent.
These changes represent a good start, but they do NOTHING to change the fact that millions of (mostly) men out there played under very different rules and likely sustained much greater levels of head trauma. Rule changes made in 201X don’t help players from years past.

So trying to rebrand football as the new chess club as far as injury risk is concerned ignores the fact that the damage has already been done and the risk is already there for many, many men. You can’t undo past TBIs or cumulative damage by changing today’s rules.

I’m not saying ban football or any sport.

I’m saying football participation should be seen as a risk factor and if you combine this with other factors, it should be taken to a much higher level of concern if mental health concerns emerge. If we want to throw in soccer participation as well, that’s fine by me.

I think we can both agree that the consequences of mental health issues that are not quickly diagnosed and treated as necessary are too terrible to continue the way they seem to be going.

Grouse

Here’s an informative article about this event and the man.

https://www.sacbee.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/hometown-report/article218294860.html

I watched another show on HBO sports last night regarding the NHL and concussions. They are the only league to not come forth and admit the connection between head trauma in the sport and CTE. These leagues making money hand over fist need to own up and take care of the atheletes after they retire so this type of thing can be prevented. The NFL reached a huge settlement with the former players but are now denying claims. This will continue until they are forced to take responsibility and help the players in need. Makes me question my children’s involvement in hockey and football. I want them to enjoy the team aspect but I’m scared for the repercussions they may see in adulthood.

I don’t deny that getting hit in the head isn’t good for long term health, or think that concussions are ok, or that head injuries in football don’t happen. But IMO these studies stink. From what I’ve seen and read is that there is no real study that has been done with control populations vs a “treatment” population, no blind testing, no randomization. The researchers collected brains from athletes, football players especially, and drew the conclusion that football equals CTE. Well maybe, but why do there seem to be so many more cases of athletes having issues than in the past. It just seems to me there is/are other contributing factors. Correlation doesn’t equal causation.