It's even simpler than that, he most likely just has the causation backwards He hasn't even considered the possibility that maybe the reason very few elite athletes seem to be depressed is that depression makes it difficult to become an athlete
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Replying to @arthur_affect @lindsaystweets and
Very few basketball players are less than six feet tall, therefore if I begin playing basketball I will immediately grow
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Replying to @arthur_affect @lindsaystweets and
He's talking about NCAA student-athletes, not just people who generally exercise, so immediately hits conclusions are suspect Varsity athletes are a gatekept category - you can't just choose to become one, you have to be good enough at a sport to make the cut
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Replying to @arthur_affect @lindsaystweets and
If depression affects your ability to perform well, which we know it does just from the definition of depression and from specific studies of depression and various physical tasks, then *of course* the rate of depression is lower than among the general population
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Replying to @arthur_affect @lindsaystweets and
Similarly, if an NCAA student-athlete becomes severely depressed, most likely before they reach the point of killing themselves they will reach the point of dropping out of their sport
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Replying to @arthur_affect @lindsaystweets and
This is one of the most obvious and time honored way to lie with statistics It's a joke in Spring Awakening - if you make sure to flunk out your depressed students before they commit suicide then the suicide doesn't show up on your record
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Replying to @arthur_affect @lindsaystweets and
Anyway look The most obvious thing to say about depression is depression is negatively correlated with general life success There are obvious and striking exceptions, sure - Robin Williams died by suicide while one of the most beloved and successful people in the world
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Replying to @arthur_affect @lindsaystweets and
But, generally speaking, everyone knows that a hard, stressful life with few achievements and low status is a major environmental risk factor for being depressed Conversely, depression obviously makes it much more difficult to achieve anything, which is why it's a bad thing
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Replying to @arthur_affect @lindsaystweets and
All of this statistical shit you're throwing out is just correlated with that If you're 18-22 and in college, all else being equal, your life is probably going better than someone just like you who is not in college
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Replying to @arthur_affect @lindsaystweets and
Just like the narrower category of NCAA student-athletes are people who are going better than the gen pop of college students - this is enforced by the category (your GPA has to be above a certain level, you can't have serious disciplinary issues on your record, etc)
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And being an athlete is, you know, generally a good thing about your life that you've got going for you All of this is just general obvious shit for why a student-athlete is less likely to be depressed than someone just like them who isn't even in college
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Replying to @arthur_affect @lindsaystweets and
Getting all the way down to the specific issue of saying "It's the cardiovascular exercise, that must be it, it prevents depression" is stupid Yeah we all know physical exercise is negatively correlated with depression but there are so many confounders here
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