Evan Gattis: “All I could think about was killing myself”

Anyone who has caught a Braves game this season has likely heard the announcers telling the tale of the strange path Gattis took to reach the majors. The odd jobs he had and how he found his way back to baseball and, golly, it’s a swell story.

As Bob Nightengale reports in his profile of Gattis in USA Today, however, it was not some shaggy dog tale about a wandering soul finally finding his way back to the game:

“I was in a mental hospital,” he tells USA TODAY Sports. “I couldn’t sleep for an entire week, and I knew something was wrong with me. So I got admitted. I was so depressed, all I could think about was killing myself. I wanted to kill myself for a long time.” ... Gattis was diagnosed with clinical depression and anxiety six years ago and, through medication, therapy and time, eventually discovered what he wanted out of life.

His story is an ongoing one. People with depression and anxiety can and often do battle it for their entire lifetime. And to successfully battle it, many require the sort of help Gattis got to aid his fight. Sadly, many people do not get it and wander off their path for years, sometimes never to return.

Gattis is a great story, and I don’t begrudge the visiting announcers for taking the chance to tell his tale. But there was much more behind it all than wanderlust and whimsy. Gattis’ comeback from where he was is far more impressive and beat far more odds than any of that would suggest.