Greinke Credits Medication for Overcoming Social Anxiety Disorder

By Will Laws

Starting pitcher Zack Greinke has credited the breakthrough medicine Zoloft for enabling him to overcome social anxiety disorder and depression and have a successful baseball career.

"The medicine is the greatest thing ever," Greinke told MLB.com regarding his emotional problems as he talked about the issue publicly just for the second time since his diagnosis.

"The only problem is that I feel it makes me a little tired, that's the only complaint. It's amazing. I wish I had known about it before," added Greinke, a first-round pick by the Kansas City Royals in 2002.

In 2006, Greinke decided to leave baseball in his third season as a Major Leaguer with the Kansas City Royals due to his emotional problem that he earlier thought would be cured by self-medication of the abusive type.

"At the time, I didn't drink or smoke, and thought that the only way to get through it was to get involved in that stuff, but that would just temporarily help," Greinke said. "I decided that wasn't best, it just wasn't me. That would be hiding from the real problem, so I decided to leave baseball."

The next year, Greinke returned to the Royals with a different personality and outlook, thanks to the medicine.

Now, Greinke is considered one of the best among the current crop of Major League pitchers, winning the American League Cy Young Award in 2009.

He signed a $147 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers after finishing the season with a 15-5 record with the Los Angeles Angels and the Milwaukee Brewers.

After meeting Greinke for the first time, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly downplayed reports that his new starting pitcher is a loner.

"After meeting him over the winter, I feel like this is a non-issue," Mattingly said. "He's up-front with how he deals with it. He doesn't stay to himself as much as you think…I think he'll fit in fine with the guys."

SPORTS

Pitcher Zack Greinke Credits Medication for Overcoming Social Anxiety Disorder