Mood Swings

in the end I think that if this was all just medical though, it would have been resolved. When you tell your agent you want him to formally request a trade, that means you have thought this one through a little bit. IMO

I still think Cutler is a complete tool.

I can have mood swings too. ;-)

I don’t think the events that lead to Cutler’s trade were a result of diabetes-induced mood swings (though that may have been a factor). Rather, I found it interesting that some of Jay’s INTs might have been a result of (or again, at least influenced by) these outbursts. The example in the quoted comment points out the INT against Miami came immediately after Jay visibly lost his composure when Marshall’s TD was called back (btw, I lost my composure at that point as well). There were the two INTs against Kansas City that came shortly after Jay was PO-ed with a backup WR for running the wrong route.

Just makes one wonder: is Jay’s biggest enemy his own emotions, and can he get them under control?

Thanks Kitten!

“Yet they may also quickly forget such conversations”

An important point to remember. I’ve worked with high functioning autistic students, and they share some of the characteristics of diabetics — mood swings, emotions that are out of line with the situation, reactions that erupt due to something that occurred in the past. And as Kitten pointed out, they often forget that things were said or done. So I can see how the diabetes might have impacted Jay, especially in 2007 before he was aware that it was an issue.

While I agree with others that the diabetes cannot be blamed for the sage, it may have contributed to the escalation of the situation once it began.

Blood sugar fluctuations can be quite extreme in Type 1 diabetes and can cause irritability, inappropriate anger and amnesia for recent events. Impulsive behavior can sometimes be related to too low blood sugar. However this behavior can also occur in Bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorders. People with these conditions can function very well, but act erractically at times. I cannot blame any of the above for Cutler’s behavior. This was a tactic planned out over several weeks in concert with his self-serving agent. It’s really too bad, because he would have thrived in this system I believe.

Thanks for backing up your hypothesis with some evidence.

Rec’d

Just thought it was an interesting angle nobody else had brought up. Haha…as if that horse hadn’t been beaten to death as it was.
;-)

Since learning of Jays Diabetes I have had one concern—his refusal to give up drinking. I have a Great Grandfather that had Type 1 and lost both his legs through the experience. With that said both my Grand Mother and Mother became experts in concern with diabetes. They say the best way to avoid Type 2 diabetes is diet, the best way to avoid Type 1 is choose the right ancestry…or parents.

Alchohol is a funny thing. It is basically a string of sugar with a radical oxident (free radical) attached—HO-hydroxide. Not only does the HO kill a number of cells as your body detaches it from the sugar—but your body is then left with processing a huge amount of concentrated sugar. That is why you first feel good (Brain Cells Dieing) and then feel terrible (Way Too Much Sugar To Be processed).

Think about not a terrible hangover—but the funny feeling your brain has when you have had no sleep for a long period of time…or in some cases what you feel when you have not eaten for that same period.. Both those feelings can hit a Type 1 diabetic, at any time, if he is not governing his diet.

I meant . . . “I worry that Jay’s late night antics did have an effect on his blood sugar . . .” Sorry if that sentence did not make sense.

I did a lot of research on critical thinking in connection with some seminars I did in Japan. It’s amazingly interesting stuff. You’d think that we think about most of what we do, but we really don’t for dozens of reasons. One of my favorite quotes was something to the effect that thinking is merely the process by which we justify the decisions we already came to by other means. And the effect of a chemical inbalance on the mind can take all kinds of forms. (If you haven’t read it, definitely try “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat” by Oliver Sacks!!)

I could easily see stress, a feeling of betrayal, blood sugar problems and drinking affect JC’s thinking during that crucial period. The most puzzling thing during the whole episode for me was when, after he learned that he had been traded, he said something like, what? I didn’t want to be traded. I thought then that this guy is completely out of it! And maybe he actually was.

I could also easily see a snake like Cook taking advantage of that rather than trying to correct it or put JC back onto the right track. The big-league successful hangers-on are quite pyschologically acute and use these kinds of weaknesses to their advantage.

This is a good topic and one that should be discussed as it has been here with this post.

Interesting and informative. Thanks Kitten and thanks to all those that commented.

I don’t mind hearing theories related to diabetes but there are better explanations for all this.

There’s a strong tendency to search for explanations for ‘hard to believe’ events. Cutler’s diabetes provides a way of rationalizing what is unthinkable for many fans — that Cutler simply didn’t want to play for the Broncos. Diabetes provides us with a way of explaining Cutler’s ‘crazy’ desire to play for someone else, and only craziness could account for his desire since no right thinking person wouldn’t want to play for the Broncos — in our view.

Contradictory beliefs create “dissonance.” Dissonance can be reconciled by finding alternate evidence that brings discrepant beliefs back into coherence. Cutler clearly wouldn’t want to leave the Broncos — (in our mind) — so something must have affected his mind to explain this. Or, for instance: it’s unthinkable to believe that Cutler, in the right mind, would want to leave the Broncos, so somebody must have angered him so badly that he wanted to leave — and thus McDaniels is purportedly to blame for failing to show his loyalty to Cutler. Again, for a right thinking Cutler; he ‘had’ to be “slighted” in some way or else his behavior made no sense — thus the purportedly despotic McDaniels and communist sounding New England Way of thinking FORCED Cutler to miss the off-season workouts and was the REAL cause of all the problems.

Parsimony yields a simpler truth, but that doesn’t mean that Cutler couldn’t be affected by blood sugar problems. However, the monitor that he uses does a very good job of monitoring his glucose and boosts his insulin when needed (from what I’ve read). Diabetes may be a bit of a mystery to non-diabetics but I wouldn’t put a lot of stock in this diabetes induced mood change theory for Cutler’s behavior.

If anyone can find a diabetes induced desire to play for the Bears for millions of dollars more theory then I’ll look at it with an open mind. I’m afraid that the best explanation for Cutler’s behavior relies upon a rather coldly calculating and rational explanation of his state of mind. I’m not hurt by his desire for a trade, and that’s even though I would have liked to see him remain a Bronco, but I don’t require alternate explanations for his behavior because the reason for his behavior isn’t ‘unthinkable’ for me.

Good or bad Josh seems to be driven to success at a significant cost, no other way a 33 year becomes an NFL Head Coach. He surely expects the same from his staff and players (he’s not Shirley but I digress…) If the average person has diabetes and chooses to go out partying he risks his health for the above stated reasons, simplified alcohol is highly unstable sugar in any form. Insulin can nuetralize the short term affects… I can easily see MCD saying to Jay like: Lifestyle issues are important to our team concept, just the same as I wouldn’t put you on the field without sufficent protection to your backside, I would hope you would take care of yourself to be the best you can be on and off the field. Chicago trainer stated clearly they knew they should expect a partying lifestyle from Jay and it was worth the risk. Most type 1 diabetics who love to drink in excess get pretty pissed off if you remind them of the risk to themselves and all of those who depend on them. Bottom line, reaching for excellence for this year’s Broncos may require of each member at least a reasonable physical and mental drive for success, we can debate the spiritual requirements to achieve this somewhere else. I’m thinking that I love tough love in today’s NFL!