NFL insider Jay Glazer recently opened up about his mental health battle, detailing his bouts with anxiety and depression in his new memoir Unbreakable earlier this year. The popular Fox Sports personality has made a concerted effort to be transparent in his struggles, doing his best to destigmatize mental illness by offering frequent words of encouragement on social media.
Glazer, in an unusual display of vulnerability, decided to document his latest panic attack Sunday night, barely able to breathe while addressing his 1.2 million followers on Twitter. Fair warning, Glazer does drop a few F bombs, so make sure your earbuds are in if you’re watching at work.
“I’m actually in the middle of a full-blown panic attack,” admitted Glazer, who was getting ready for bed when his night got derailed by a sudden wave of anxiety. “It’s a bad one. Man, I don’t know. No idea. Just chilling out here, going to bed and it came over me. I told y’all I would take you on this mental health journey whenever it happens. And it f---ing happened, right here.”
It’s refreshing to see someone as nationally visible as Glazer confront his anxiety in real time, treating his mental health episode as casually as if it were part of his nightly routine. It takes courage to show the world what we look like in our lowest moments, but Glazer appears to have also found a clever coping mechanism, looking to his social media family for support while highlighting how seemingly random panic attacks can be, often arriving at a moment’s notice.
“I’m doing it with a smile on my face because I know I’m not in danger,” said Glazer. “It’s sh---y, but I also have y’all to talk to about it now.”
Mental health, once considered a taboo subject in the hypermasculine arena of professional sports, continues to be an important talking point, with athletes like Kevin Love, Dak Prescott, Naomi Osaka, DeMar DeRozan and Simone Biles bringing it to the mainstream. Glazer is furthering the conversation, using his platform for good by normalizing anxiety and reminding others experiencing similar feelings of confusion and self-doubt they don’t have to suffer in silence.
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