BMX David Mirra’s Suicide a Poignant Reminder That Extreme Athletes Suffer From Mental Health Issues
Almost half — 48.5% — of Americans have used at least one prescription drug within the past month. But when it comes to extreme sport athletes, they most likely are on a full medication regime due to the injuries sustained from their dangerous sport.
It is no secret that extreme sports, like skiing, snowboarding, and skateboarding, come with many risks. While the athletes do heart-stopping tricks that quickly go viral online, many don’t understand the severe health repercussions that come with those twists and turns.
Back in 2013, the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System complied data from extreme sports injuries between 2000 and 2011. The head researcher, Dr. Vani J. Sabesan, studied the impact of head injuries within the sport.
In the first ever study of its kind, Sabesan found that more than 40,000 dangerous head injuries happen to athletes annually in seven different extreme sports. Motocross, snowboarding, mountain biking, and skateboarding were all included.
As reported in The New York Times, this study shows that skateboarding caused the most head and neck injuries, coming in at a total of 129,000 within the study’s 11 years. Snowboarding had about 97,000 injuries, skiers experienced more than 83,000, and motocross drew more than 78,000.
Sabesan believes that these injuries pose an extreme health risk because many athletes don’t understand the long-term health consequences that come with these injuries.
Take BMX legend Dave Mirra for example.
This extreme athlete excelled at his sport, but quickly succumbed to heavy drug use and depression as a result of previous head injuries.
Mirra died from a self-inflicted shot to the head. His family has recently come forward explaining his struggle with depression before he died, and in doing so they hope to warn other athletes about the mental health dangers that can come with the sport.
It happened suddenly. Mirra was spending time at a friends house when he excused himself to go outside. When his friend went to search for him a few minutes later, they found him dead in the driveway with a gun in his right hand.
While toxicology reports show Mirra did not have any drugs in the system at the time of his death, a trace amount of alcohol was reported in his bloodstream.
According to the medical examiner, Mirra’s body was covered with scars from previous injuries, with five on his head alone.
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