I was struck by the Times article today on the rise of suicides among college students especially from affluent backgrounds.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/education/edlife/stress-social-media-and-suicide-on-campus.html
One of the victims profiled ran for Penn. Which got me to thinking about the single-minded personality traits many runners share. I see it in some of my high school runners---an almost scary level of dedication to xc and track that we as adults often mistake for maturity. Sometimes it is just maturity and doesn't need more analysis, but sometimes I think it is maturity trying to hide some deeper insecurity. And this can be terribly difficult to suss out.
I think about how running stacks up against the perfectionism in other sports or extra-curricular activities. In running you don't have the luxury of hiding behind the rest of the team as you might in soccer, football, rowing, etc, etc. It's all individual in running so every success and every mistake in amplified--for better, and in the case of this article, for worse.
Thoughts?