father’s – Michmutters

Not so long ago the brightest star in baseball, Fernando Tatis Jr. has turned out to be a fool who thinks everyone else is just as big a fool.

Tatis was busted by MLB on Friday for taking an anabolic steroid, and reacted by issuing a statement that it would only fly if the country had 100 per cent illiteracy or everyone’s internet were permanently down, the New York Post reported.

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Tatis said he “inadvertently” took the performance enhancing drug Clostebol to treat ringworm, and apparently either he, his agent or his marketing guy thought the world would mistake Clostebol, the synthetic anabolic steroid he was caught with, for Clobetasol, a common drug used to treat skin foods like eczema and psoriasis that also requires a prescription. Clostebol is never prescribed for skin defects or ringworm. Of course, there had actually been a medical mix-up – extremely unlikely since one is a Schedule 4 anabolic steroid and the other a common corticosteroid – he’d have documentary proof since he’d have the prescription from the doctor.

In effect, Tatis was busted again. You do not have to be an internet sleuth to disprove his unbelievable story about him. Tatis needs to employ better liars, but more than that, he needs to clean up his own act. The first half of his season was wiped out in a fit of foolishness. This is much worse.

Tatis’ 80-game PED suspension, announced Friday, stings all of baseball, but it really hurts the exciting Padres, who have energized their sleepy but beautiful burg. Padres general manager AJ Preller texted: “We have a good team. (We) will rally from this.”

Perhaps they will, but as of today they may have somewhat less faith in Tatis’s $341 million ($A477m) 14-year contract.

Tatis did say one believable thing in his statement, proclaiming he was “completely devastated” by his transgression, which we assume is true. Because he is now forever known as just another cheat among the long pantheon of cheats who have populated the game. A select few cheats show some real remorse or a hint of honesty. To this point Tatis is not one of those.

Preller, speaking about Tatis to Padres writers, said: “I think what we need to get to is a point in time where we trust. … Over the course of the last six or seven months I think that’s been something that we haven’t really been able to have.”

The Padres issued a statement saying they are “hopeful Fernando will learn from this experience.” In their statement, ringworm was not mentioned.

On the field Tatis is a prodigy. Off it, I need help.

The biggest question now is: How long has this been going on? More to the point, do we think it’s conceivable he just decided to enhance his performance via drugs while on the injured list and well after he’d already signed his $341 million deal? Or did he win his record deal partly via medicinal means?

Tatis had some amazing achievements leading up to his record contract. And now we all have to wonder about it, and them.

What’s no mystery is the disaster that is his 2022 season, which began with a wrist injury apparently suffered joy-riding on a motorbike. That injury, which he neglected to tell the team about until he showed up at spring training, wiped out 70 per cent of the season. The incredible thing about that was when he was asked whether the cycling accident caused the wrist injury, he answered, “Which one?” The implication was clear. He exercised so little caution he had had multiple motorcycle accidents.

Sadly, as it turns out, carelessness appears to be the least of his weaknesses.

This story first appeared in the New York Post and was republished with permission.

There’s no doubt having a baby is a life-changing event and while it’s well known many mothers struggle with depression or anxiety, so can fathers.

Perinatal anxiety and depression, from pregnancy through to a child turning one, affect up to one in five new mums and up to one in 10 new dads, according to Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia (PANDA).

A world-first online treatment program called Dadbooster aims to help fathers after their baby is born by reducing moderate to severe symptoms of postnatal depression.

A silent struggle

For Luke Rigby, the birth of his daughter Olive in 2018 marked the start of a mental health battle that left him struggling for almost a year until he was diagnosed.

Returning to work three weeks after Olive’s birth, the 27-year-old said he ignored early warning signs that something wasn’t right.

“I think I averaged a day off a week … I’d give myself a kick up the butt, but it would only last for probably a week or two and then it becomes like a self-replicating cycle,” he said.

His turning point came when he finally decided to visit his GP.

“I booked him for a 15-minute appointment, but I reckoned that lasted about 45 minutes,” he said.

“It was just me in his room sobbing and just the things that I was holding inside of me that I’ve never really said, even to myself, before they just came out … like a word vomit.”

Man bending down holding onto a little girl by the ocean — Mr Rigby says he tries to spend as much quality time as he can with his four-year-old daughter.(Supplied: Luke Rigby)

Luke Rigby isn’t alone when it comes to dealing with peri- and postnatal depression and anxiety.

An increasing number of fathers report similar experiences.

Dadbooster to help fathers

Jeannette Milgrom, executive director of Melbourne’s Parent-Infant Research Institute (PIRI), said, through her research and development of treatment programs for women, it became apparent there was an obvious gap in treatment options for men.

“What we found is that this has not been addressed in the literature,” Professor Milgrom said.

“There have been some involvement of men and trials of providing education, but there hasn’t been any targeted treatment for depression in men.”

That’s about to change.

Woman looking at camera and smiling — Jeannette Milgrom developed Dadbooster to help fill the void in treatment options for fathers with postnatal depression.(Supplied: Jeannette Milgrom)

Professor Milgrom and her team are working on a world-first specialized web-based treatment program for depressed or anxious fathers.

Dadbooster involves six sessions along with SMS messages, regular contact, advice and encouragement to keep motivated participants.

Changes in symptoms are also closely monitored.

Professor Milgrom said the treatment was comparable to face-to-face therapy and was modified to appeal to men.

“There’s similarities in the sense that the core treatment for depression is cognitive behavioral therapy… we’ve made it very easily accessible for men… it’s a very mobile, responsive program and it’s shorter and sharper,” she said.

‘Even rocks crumble’

A woman smiles. — Julie Borninkhof says more than one in 10 dads may experience perinatal depression.(Supplied: PANDA)

Australia’s mental health system to date has not been great at picking up on vulnerability in men, according to PANDA CEO Julie Borninkhof.

“Organizations like ours are really trying to break down the barriers and remind people that even rocks crumble,” Dr Borninkhof said.

“We don’t screen as readily and ask as many questions as we do of women… so the one in 10 is probably under-reported, because we also know that screening dads in the perinatal period is not as great as it is when we screen our mums.”

Dr Borninkhof said data collected through PANDA’s annual mental health checklist for expectant fathers had revealed some alarming data.

“There’s about 60 per cent of those that really do fear that they’re not going to be great dads,” she said.

Professor Milgrom said her research had identified the importance of giving a voice to the issue.

“Once men start hearing other men talking about it, it becomes very enabling to be able to share the experience and feel that it’s so common,” she said.

hanging out together

It’s a sentiment shared by Tom Docking, founder of Dads Group, an organization promoting positive parenting for men by combining dads, their kids, a cup of coffee and a playground.

Since establishing the Toowoomba chapter a few years ago, Mr Docking said getting fathers together with their children created a supportive environment.

A group of Dads pushing prams — Dads Group offers support to fathers around Australia.(Supplied: Tom Docking)

“From our research, it’s the presence of the child which helps to keep the focus on being better as a father, a partner, a community leader, and a benefit to himself and his own identity,” he said.

Mr Docking said the group was letting fathers know about Dadbooster and other services available.

“It’s important to realize that we can only do this together collaboratively to really address the needs of our community,” Mr Docking said.

For Mr Rigby, help from his GP and connecting with a local dads’ group gave him the support he needed.

Now, he shares his experience with others to raise awareness of perinatal and postnatal depression.

“My biggest bit of advice is to be radically honest with yourself … and ask the question about why you don’t feel 100 per cent and then go from there,” he said.

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