Shirley Wang of the WSJ suggests that baseball has “significantly shifted” its assessment of psychological issues, moving from an insensitive “gutting it out” approach to a more understanding attitude.  Giving Khalil Greene, Joey Votto and Dontrelle Willis as examples, she portrays anxiety as an injury.  It’s not an injury, nor should it be considered one.

Social Anxiety Disorder is a general diagnosis, for people who show an inordinate amount of anxiety in social situations.  For most, it neither outlines a definitive cause – which you can slowly uncover through thousands of dollars worth of therapy – nor suggests a treatment.  More than ten percent of the population “suffers” from it, which suggests it’s not really a “disorder” at all.

Playing Major League Baseball is extremely stressful.  Every action is accountable to the individual and tabulated.  Public scrutiny is constant.  Controlling anxiety is a skill of the profession.  You have to “gut it out.€Â  It’s similar in pressure to an air traffic controller or a neurosurgeon, most people are not qualified to handle it.

It’s a fair assumption that some baseball players have anxiety troubles.  They may feel uncomfortable in social situations or may fret unusually about their future.  They are also playing.

Votto was an isolated case, related to his father’s death.  Khalil Greene and Dontrelle Willis are on the DL with anxiety disorders.  They are on the DL because they have been woefully ineffective and their teams have too much money invested to release them.  If they were playing well, they would be playing.  Those who muddle through real life with the disorder have no disabled list.

Baseball is not taking a softer stance on social anxiety.  Teams merely realized they could use the mental injury excuse rather than feigning a physical one.