Kyle Singler does not seem well

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Does anyone know of a way we can help? We really do need to take care of our own. Point me in the right direction please!

Kyle Singler is my third favorite Duke player ever. Hard to watch this situation unfold.

This can happen to people of all backgrounds and socioeconomic settings.

How can we help? Maybe not with Kyle, but take care of yourself and your family and friends, and check in often. Don't let the ones you love drift away. Intentionally reconnect when they grow distant. Support them if they need professional therapy or medical assistance or show signs of diminished mental acuity.

Maybe you can't directly help a former basketball star but maybe you can help someone you know.
 
What are you going to do for him? The player’s association is apparently trying, I’ll assume Duke is trying something. Look at him. It seems likely he’s on some hard drugs. I don’t think message board fans are going to help him.

This seems a bit dismissive and complacent. If you don't have a suggestion of how to help, silence would have been a better response. I posted even though I already understood the situation asking if anyone could think of a way to help anyway. Although I have posted here infrequently over the last 17 years, I'm not a message board fan. I am an alum with time, money, experience and network to contribute. Why sentence others to inaction based on your limitations/imagination?
 
I just rewatched Kyle and Kevin on YouTube. It gave me goosebumps. It was such a pure story. ..This situation sucks. I hate seeing such a great guy struggle like this.
 
Sadly Kyle has posted new videos and they keep getting worse. He even admits to his drug use. By the sound of it he won’t listen to anyone.
 
Sadly Kyle has posted new videos and they keep getting worse. He even admits to his drug use. By the sound of it he won’t listen to anyone.

Oh no. Link?
You can use the same link to his Instagram on the first post on this thread.

Ironically, in his last video: "...I want everyone to know that my energy is good, I'm doing great. I've never felt better in my life. [...] This is what I'm here to be doing in my life. Enough with the: 'are you okay's?' 'I'm praying for you.' Stop it, stop it. If you guys want to be helpful, again, hear me out, take my words for what they are. I'm telling my truth." Then goes on to talk about how his community hasn't been helpful, that he's been a yogi for 4 years, been doing yoga for 10 years and wants to create a yoga studio "like no other".

As we've seen with mental anguish/drug use/etc. it doesn't matter how connected/rich/famous you are -- if you don't think there is something "wrong" yourself, nobody can force you to seek any help/treatment. From his own "truth," as of the latest videos, seems like Kyle thinks that he himself is in a great mental space but that others have been trying to bring him down.
 
I hope there are some interested parties in a position to have some form of intervention before he does additional harm to himself. 🙏
 
As usual, I see things very differently than most. Kyle is fine! He is an Oregon hippie searching for his next positive direction in his life’s journey. As a fellow hippie, it’s easy for me to recognize Kyle is searching for his post-basketball life and doesn’t need or want society to dictate his future direction. I wish Bill Walton was still around to mentor Kyle. It seems you cats just don’t understand.
 
Please do not personally attack other posters with whom you disagree.
As usual, I see things very differently than most. Kyle is fine! He is an Oregon hippie searching for his next positive direction in his life’s journey. As a fellow hippie, it’s easy for me to recognize Kyle is searching for his post-basketball life and doesn’t need or want society to dictate his future direction. I wish Bill Walton was still around to mentor Kyle. It seems you cats just don’t understand.
Yeah, his videos remind me a lot of your posts.
 
Absolutely! I’ve given great, free financial advice and you guys still lack any form of manners or appreciation! You expect everyone to conform to your desires and expectations! Alternative thought is completely undesired!
Never heard it said that way but I like it 😆
 
I was going to leave this thread to rest, but as it has been revived...

I reached out to a friend who manages a local substance abuse organization here in Medford and is also connected to the local sports scene. He didn't call back...hope that means he is in touch with Kyle and can't discuss due to confidentiality.

The Medford police say they are aware of Kyle's situation and cannot comment further.

NBA Players association says they have also reached out.

Kevin Love has voiced words of encouragement.

I'll provide links if needed.
 
I was going to leave this thread to rest, but as it has been revived...

I reached out to a friend who manages a local substance abuse organization here in Medford and is also connected to the local sports scene. He didn't call back...hope that means he is in touch with Kyle and can't discuss due to confidentiality.

The Medford police say they are aware of Kyle's situation and cannot comment further.

NBA Players association says they have also reached out.

Kevin Love has voiced words of encouragement.

I'll provide links if needed.
Nice to hear. The thread was not heading in a good direction. Thanks for this.
 
The thread was not heading in a good direction.
Agreed.

Discussions and speculations about the private lives and mental health of others is dicey, even if the subject put the issue out there in public. Kyle is part of the family, and personal attacks of posters is the quickest way to get any thread locked — let alone a sensitive one such as this.

Thanks all for your understanding in this regard.
 
I don't honestly see anything there that screams mental health emergency. Granted, I grew up in a cult so I may have high standards for what qualifies...

He does seem frustrated and unhappy. I hope there is more to his life than what he posts on socials.
I’m not trying to compare stories but my family has been through a capital murder trial with the primary defense as insanity. The defendant was a family member who I spent a good amount of time with growing up.

I was interviewed for hours by the defense mitigation team.

Sometimes, what we think we do or do not know or see about mental illness, isn’t cut and dry, even if we’re close to someone.

I’d encourage you to take a beat before suggesting what someone is or is not going through.
 
I’m not trying to compare stories but my family has been through a capital murder trial with the primary defense as insanity. The defendant was a family member who I spent a good amount of time with growing up.

I was interviewed for hours by the defense mitigation team.

Sometimes, what we think we do or do not know or see about mental illness, isn’t cut and dry, even if we’re close to someone.

I’d encourage you to take a beat before suggesting what someone is or is not going through.
I would usually agree - I promise you thet I don't take mental illness at all likely. It has touched my loved ones in extreme ways throughout my life. I dislike armchair diagnosing or casual discussion of the mental health of celebrities.

But I would suggest given the posts from Kyle, there are three potential things happening - all of which are very concerning and would warrant some degree of welfare check:

1) Kyle is experiencing acute and delusional paranoia as a result of repeated heavy drug use

2) Kyle is experiencing acute and delusional paranoia as a result of an intense and lengthy mental health crisis

3) Kyle has experienced some intense family trauma throughout his life and is choosing a very disturbing way of letting the world know all about it

Any of these three truths would bring me cause for extreme concern. If I saw a loved one exhibiting this behavior for 3+ months, I would find them immediate help.

I certainly didn't know Singler as well as some here do. But if there is anyone here who is two degrees from someone who remains close to Kyle, I would urge you to see if there's a way to get him the support he needs.

I think the best case scenario would be that this is a clear "cry for help," in which case, I hope he finds the help.
 
Whatever is being done behind the scenes is being done by people who live in a behind-the-scenes world. I'd be surprised and a little skeptical if we hear substantive public statements about KS from anyone from the legitimate mental health or substance use treatment worlds. The NBA has programs for players and former players, and I'm sure they have been busily making decisions about how best to help. They may have looked at all the evidence and decided that there's nothing they can do beyond offering to help and referring him to a hospital, which probably has more clout than a former employer.

I haven't kept up with KS's public statements, so I'll add that none of us really knows what's going on, and he may be doing much better than what might appear on his downloads.

Having said that, there are limits about what can be done against someone's will. "Danger to self or others" is the clearest trigger for involuntary intervention. "Inability to care for self" can also be a trigger (depends on the state), but that one is a little fuzzier than suicidality/homicidality-- though there's also a lot of room for gray with the dangerousness criteria. Some psychiatric diagnoses lend themselves to ambiguity, partly because they tend to be more dramatic/public and partly because a lack of insight is often a fundamental part of the illness. And if the person isn't coming in for help, it's very difficult to do the sort of evaluation that allows for an involuntary intervention.

Someone with mental health or substance use issues who also has financial resources (+/- fame) can get lots of help, but they may have the flexibility/clout to avoid the evaluation, the fame that allows them to dig the sort of hole that can be difficult to climb out of, and a cluster of "friends" who feed off the celebrity/money and reduce the likelihood of serious intervention. Just look at all the celebrities whose lives were cut short at least partly because they didn't live in a world of consequences; of course, there is a much larger world of people without privilege whose lives were permanently derailed by mental illness and substances.

I've lived in the mental health world since KS was born, and I'd add that "permanently derailed" can only be decided in retrospect. I've seen many, many people who look pretty messed up and return to being thoughtful, creative, productive people who find a lot of happiness. It's difficult to predict (and understand) when you are in the room with someone, and simply impossible to know much from a great distance.
 
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