One of the points we hope we make successfully with the content on this blog is that treatment for mental illnesses and disorders can dramatically improve the quality of life for those affected by them. Case in point: tennis pro Mardy Fish making his way back to the sport he loves after having his career sidelined by an anxiety disorder. Here’s an excerpt from his story, as told on FoxSports.comt. If you, or someone you care about, have been thinking about seeking treatment, we hope his story will offer encouragement.
American tennis pro Mardy Fish won his first singles match Monday since 2013, as he topped world No. 20 Viktor Troicki 6-2, 6-2 at the Western & Southern Open in a match that did not mean much in the tennis world but meant everything to Fish.
That’s because, for nearly three years, Fish was forced to curb his tennis career while he battled an anxiety disorder. It was a fight that nearly cost Fish his career and a fight he recently opened up about in a feature in The Wall Street Journal.
The trouble began after Fish underwent a heart procedure in 2012 to correct an abnormally fast heartbeat. Fish pulled through the procedure fine, but he started becoming increasingly anxious about the world he lived in. Everything came to a head during the 2012 U.S. Open. Fish suffered an anxiety attack during his third-round match but somehow prevailed, setting up a fourth-round date against Roger Federer on Labor Day.