Carson Meyer felt sluggish when he arrived on the Miami U. campus last August for his sophomore year. After a long, hectic summer — the Powell, Ohio, native had been drafted by the Blue Jackets that June — Meyer hoped his energy would return once he got back into the daily routine of classes and practice.



But when summer turned to fall and fall leaned toward winter, Meyer was only feeling worse — an unrelenting lethargy, a loss of appetite, significant weight loss and a pale face that worried players and coaches, and not just on his RedHawks hockey team.



“One (opposing) coach asked some of my teammates if I had cancer,” Meyer said.



By December, he asked to see a psychiatrist for what he thought was a growing depression. It was suggested he might have seasonal affective disorder.



By mid-January, the Blue Jackets’ disappointment in Meyer’s performance had been replaced entirely by a concern for the young...