At a recent charity event for Child Mind Institute, Hall of Fame Quarterback Steve Young revealed that he grew up with severe separation anxiety that continued undiagnosed into his 30s.

As a child, despite getting straight A’s and excelling in sports, Young was terrified to be separated from his parents. For a time, his mom would walk him to school and sit in the back of the classroom. They pretended she was the “class mom” to explain it to other students. He would decline offers to sleep over at friends’ houses, using the excuse that he had practice the next morning.

The anxiety continued into his 30s, several years into his career with the San Francisco 49ers. After experiencing three sleepless nights before a game against the Atlanta Falcons, he promised his family he would get help.

Nervous, he sought out the team doctor and finally poured out what he’d been experiencing: inability to sleep, racing thoughts, panic from Thursday onward before weekend games. The doctor suggested he had undiagnosed separation anxiety and referred him to a psychologist.

Young visited a child psychologist the next day. During the visit, Young recounts, “He asked me 10 questions. And if you answer yes to eight of them, then you have this severe thing — and I answered 10 of them ‘yes.’ It was like just classic.”

Young went on to become a three-time Super Bowl Champion, two-time MVP, and seven-time Pro Bowler.

Opening up about mental health and his struggles with anxiety, Young has become part of Child Mind Institute’s Dare to Share campaign. As noted in an article for The Athletic, he’s speaking out to help kids not suffer in silence: “I really wish that for every young kid, for any little Steve Youngs running around, that somehow someone can say, ‘Hey, is everything all right?’ And that little Steve Young would be OK to say, ‘I’m not sure. Something’s not right.”

After all, Young concluded in his speech, “I really do look at it as being lost in the woods when a park ranger comes by. Would you feel ashamed to ask him for directions? No, you’d be an idiot not to ask him for directions.”

If you had a broken leg, you wouldn’t go without a cast, he reasoned. We need to “make this less shameful. It would be foolish not to ask for help.”

Reyes, Lorenzo. “Hall of Fame QB Steve Young opens up about struggles with severe separation anxiety.” USA Today, 12 May 2022, https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2022/05/12/steve-young-opens-up-struggles-severe-separation-anxiety/9745198002/.

Brown, Daniel. “49ers great Steve Young opens up on mental health and his struggles with anxiety.” The Athletic, 12 May 2022, https://theathletic.com/3302936/2022/05/12/49ers-steve-young-anxiety-nfl/.