Milton Bradley: Bi-Polar?

[jaybird2001wi]

Well today I was watching ESPN today and they had a discussion of Milton Bradley and his constant conflicts that follow him wherever he goes. When he is not arguing with umpires, he questions them.

A select few sill defend him while pretty much every prior team states he was his own worst enemy. Bradley's blames on previous teams include the following: Blaming the city for his problems, umpires out to get him, management not "getting him," etc. List can go on.

But when did all of his tirades begin? I never really recalled any problems back when he started his career with the Expos and it all seemed to begin towards the tail end of his time in Cleveland.

His career numbers indicate he has been a solid player since the tail end of his Indians' career posting above .350 OBP in all years since his last season in Cleveland. Despite his constant paranoid statements regarding umpires "out to get him," his strikeout numbers have been fairly manageable with just two seasons of 100 or more strikeouts.

It seems to me that he has a lot of manic episodes that lead to physical aggression, paranoia about every umpire and team he ever came into contact with. Unless he has voices that tell him these things, he may have an undiagnosed case of Bi Polar or Schizophrenia (if he does hallucinate). Does anyone think this is the case?

[theavrock]

yes

[jaybird2001wi]

One thing that is worth mentioning is in spite of all his accusations, there is no correlation between these allegations and his statistics. Last season, he hit .214 away from Wrigley Field while batting near .300 at home. So it does not seem changes of scenery do this guy any good. His strikeout totals are too shifty year-to-year for any logical conclusion to believe umps dislike him.

[AJAY]

As a clinical psychologist, I feel that the term "bipolar" is often misused and misunderstood by a lot of people. Bipolar disorder doesn't necessarily mean that someone is moody and gets angry a lot. Although moodiness may occur, bipolar disorder is more associated with someone going through bouts of severe depression as well as bouts of "manic episodes". The manic episodes would consist of going through long periods without sleep, having high energy, and engaging in increased risky behaviors (i.e. spending sprees, risky business ventures, grandiose thinking, careless sexual behavior, etc.).

 

I have never read anything to suggest that Milton Bradley has experienced periods of clinical depression or true manic episodes (in the clinical sense). I would be more likely to say that Bradley has what is called an Axis II Personality Disorder.

 

In the absence of more information about his life off the field, this is my best guess.

[kilgore37]

He's just plain crazy

[berniebrewer4life]

Ajay has it right, there is no way Bradley is bipolar based off of his tantrums.

[Funketown]

I think hot-headed fits Milton Bradley better.

[craigharmann]

Something's not right with that guy,

[apirk]

He just has anger management issues.

 

I forgot who it was but on XM homeplate one of the shows thought that Milton was just seeing what he could get away with this season when he got ejected this ST.

[CheezWizHed]

As a father, my diagnosis is that he is a spoiled brat.

[GAME05]

it's not bi-polar or anything else. sometimes a jerk is just a jerk.

 

professional sports has shown that you can be a far more horrible person than Bradley is, but talent is all teams care about. every time he's dropped from one team, there's one or two more ready to sign him and give him a huge contract. he'll always have a team to play on as long as he's productive, and he'll always make his millions. there's no consequences that would force Bradley to stop and think "oh, maybe i shouldn't say this idiot thing."

[Legacy25GT]

As a clinical psychologist, I feel that the term "bipolar" is often misused and misunderstood by a lot of people. Bipolar disorder doesn't necessarily mean that someone is moody and gets angry a lot. Although moodiness may occur, bipolar disorder is more associated with someone going through bouts of severe depression as well as bouts of "manic episodes". The manic episodes would consist of going through long periods without sleep, having high energy, and engaging in increased risky behaviors (i.e. spending sprees, risky business ventures, grandiose thinking, careless sexual behavior, etc.).

 

I have never read anything to suggest that Milton Bradley has experienced periods of clinical depression or true manic episodes (in the clinical sense). I would be more likely to say that Bradley has what is called an Axis II Personality Disorder.

 

In the absence of more information about his life off the field, this is my best guess.

Wow... long periods without sleep, having high energy, and engaging in

increased risky behaviors...that seriously sounds exactly like a good friend of mine.

[FedEx227]

I think there's honestly something mentally wrong with him... I don't know if it's bi-polar, but he's definitely a very paranoid person.