Why Hall Of Famer Terrell Davis Is Talking About The ‘Other TD’

TD can stand for many different things. They are the initials and nickname of Hall of fame football running back Terrell Davis. And speaking of football, TD is short in the sport for touchdown, something that TD scored a lot, 65 times at the professional level. It could even stand for totally Denver, where TD spent the entirety of his seven-year, two Super Bowl ring-earning NFL career, scoring all those TDs. But now TD—meaning Davis—is standing for more awareness about another TD—tardive dyskinesia—in a campaign with Teva Pharmaceuticals known as ‘The Other TD.”

TD Has Been Talking About His Mental Health Challenges

Now you may be TD—totally disoriented—about why Davis, who has never experienced tardive dyskinesia himself, has become interested in this TD. So when Davis told me about this campaign, one of my first questions for him was why? Why, TD, are you involved with “The Other TD” besides the whole having the same initials thing? “Really it’s because of my personal journey where I battled through mental health challenges,” Davis answered. “Just being able to go through that and understanding what some people could be going through, this kind of got me into that mental health advocacy role to help people get the help that they need.”

In recent years, Davis has been TD, totally down, with speaking publicly about his mental health struggles. For example, Brianne Tracy in a 2019 article inr PEOPLE quoted David as saying about the period earlier in his life when he was dealing with severe migraine headaches, “I didn’t want to live through that period. Suicide crossed my mind. I didn’t plan it, but the only thing I could think of was just ending it.” And earlier this year, when speaking to students as Colorado’s Conifer High School to launch the Rising Together Schoolwide Mental Health Screening program, Davis said, “I know what it’s like to feel alone and face anxiety, both on the field and off.”

But Davis wasn’t always this open about mental health challenges. It wasn’t until 2017, which happened to be the year that he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame that Davis finally got help from others. “As a football player, I was always taught to be tough, always got to be mentally strong, and you can’t show any signs of weakness and all that stuff,” Davis explained. “It messes with you a little bit, until when you find out that that’s actually being ‘strong’ is being weak when you try to take things in on by yourself.” What made a being difference for Davis was realizing that others were going through mental health struggles as well. He emphasized, “The biggest comforting thing, most powerful thing for me was when I knew I wasn’t alone.”

TD’s Mental Health Advocacy Work Led Him Learn About the Other TD

So his personal experience led to his being an advocate for more awareness and support for those going through mental health challenges. That in turn brought him into contact with those suffering from tardive dyskinesia. That wasn’t surprising since tardive dsykinesia is relatively common among those getting treated for mental health conditions, as in affecting at least half a million people in the United States alone common. In fact, Davis hasn’t been the only celebrity to learn about tardive dyskinesia while serving in a mental health advocacy role. That’s happened with, hold on, who else? Oh, yes, singer Carnie Wilson, as I have already covered in Forbes.

If you go TD—meaning “to Dictionary.com”— you’ll find the following definition of tardive dyskinesia: “a disorder characterized by restlessness and involuntary rolling of the tongue or twitching of the face, trunk, or limbs, usually occurring as a complication of long-term therapy with antipsychotic drugs.” The movements can range greatly in their severity and can be quite debilitating, affecting the ability to complete daily tasks and interactions with people. This can take not only a physical toll, but emotional and mental ones as well.

You could say that TD is from TD, meaning triggering drugs. The Cleveland Clinic website states that at least 20% of all people taking first-generation antipsychotic medications develop tardive dyskinesia. Tardive dyskinesia can also emerge from using certain anti-depressants and mood stabilizers. Other types of medications can bring about this complication as well such as certain anti-nausea medications, anti-seizure medications, medications for movement disorders and decongestants like pseudoephedrine and phenylephrine.

As I’ve written before, there’s a TD, meaning a typical delay—which can range up to years—between starting a medication and the emergence of tardive dyskinesia. But once this TD arrives, it’s usually there to stay. That’s even after you stop the inciting medication.

Decreasing the dose of stopping the triggering medication may potentially, possibly help decrease TD symptoms. But, in general, you shouldn’t mess around with the doses of your prescription medications without a doctor guiding things. That could be TD, totally disastrous. Talking to your doctor could lead to a discussion about different ways to better manage the TD, including the possibility of starting a vesicular monoamine transporter or VMAT inhibitor like deutetrabenazine and valbenazine.

Many People May Not Know About The Other TD

The trouble is many patients suffering from TD aren’t going to the right health professionals for help and are instead suffering in silence, kind of like what’s happening with mental health conditions in general. They may not even know that they have TD. As a result, many have not gotten treatment TD, meaning to date.

That’s where TD, meaning Terrell Davis, can help. Davis emphasized, “I have a voice,” which he can then bring to those who don’t. In addition to being TD—a 56-Denver Broncos-records totally dominant— during his playing career, Davis is well past the TD, test drive, phase of being on TV and other platforms. He’s been a commentator analyst on NFL Network between 2006 and 2009 and since 2013, and, most importantly, appeared on Sesame Street. And some TD, true dedication, can help others get the help that they need. You could say TD—true dat.