Eagles guard Shawn Andrews says that his absence from training camp is the result of depression.

“I’m willing to admit that I’ve been going through a very bad time with depression,” Andrews said, according to the Philadelphia Daily News.  ”I’ve finally decided to get professional help.  It’s not something that blossomed up overnight.  I’m on medication, trying to get better.”

Andrews could be in camp later this week.  “I have a meeting with my doc on Thursday, and hopefully, I’ll be up that way on Friday,” Andrews said.

Depression is a very real condition, and it’s often misunderstood or undermined by people who don’t suffer from it.  In this case, the entire mess could have been avoided if the team and the player had worked together to get Andrews help given that, as Andrews says, “it’s not something that blossomed up overnight.”  Instead, the vague notion of an “unexcused” absence and the lack of any explanation as to the reason for it prompted all sorts of wild speculation and rumor.

The sad part is that, for more than a week, Andrews and the team apparently preferred the general confusion and stigma of an unexcused absence for no apparent reason (and the rumors it created) to the unfortunate stigma of admitting to mental illness. 

It shouldn’t be that way, but cases like this will do nothing to change it.