Originally Posted by
rsvman
While I concede the point that nobody can know for sure whether a player's troubles are "in his head" or "in his body," the overwhelming attitude that one type of trouble is inherently better than the other (viz., that it's "good" to have a physical problem but "bad" to have a 'mental problem') is what causes people to CONVERT mental problems into physical problems. Why do we need the hierachy?
On a quite possibly related note, "back spasms" and "lower back pain" are much more often manifestations of psychological stress than they are true physiologic problems. This is not to say that Nolan's back problems were or were not psychosomatic in nature; however, it wouldn't be surprising given the intense pressure placed on these guys to perform.
Again, to be clear, in my opinion there is nothing inherently superior about physical problems, so to assert that it's possible Nolan's back pain could be a manifestation of stress is not meant to be an insult.
As a physician, I see physiologic manifestations of psychological stressors on a daily basis. I realize that your comments weren't specifically related to Nolan's physical problems, but nevertheless the attitude that it is somehow perjorative to suggest that a player might have some psychological component of 'not living up to expectations' is integral to the somatization I see in my work all too frequently.