Two days ago, we wondered what was going on with Brandon Brooks. He had missed two of the last three games with last-minute hospitalizations, and had a history of stomach/illness issues in the past. Brooks thought it was an ulcer, and everyone else thought it might be something else. Today, Brooks announced that his illness stems from an anxiety issue, and a seemingly bad one:

I’ve been there. A short story: When I was a senior in high school, I went through a period of 3-4 months where I threw up every single day. When I was first going through it, both my doctor and I mistakenly believed it was acid reflux. I was put on medication for that, and it quelled it a bit, but it never fully went away. Years later, when I got a more accurate anxiety diagnosis, it all made sense. Still, mine was never as bad as Brooks’ seems to be.

Doug Pederson, ever the people person, called it a “weird thing.” It’s not.

Brooks has the right idea. He knows he needs to take some meds, maybe talk to someone about how to cope with what’s going on, and he’ll be solid:

He’ll have to overcome a stigma associating anxiety or any kind of mental/emotional issue as being “weak,” and should probably not look at his Twitter mentions for a bit, but he’ll probably be alright.