Feb
17
Depression in Sport
There is very little sympathy for the modern day sportsman. As a spectator, we just pay our money and leave, without a thought of how our sporting stars are feeling and dealing with their lives. For instance, when they’re out on the pitch, we just see them as players in a team and not supposedly normal people like us. As a lot of us might say, who cares as long as they do a good job on the pitch.
Why would we care? They have the cash and bling that they carry. But what if they have a more sensitive side? Or perhaps even a long term problem?
As fans, we know that sports people, particularly footballers, are wealthy individuals but what we don’t know how they handle their fortune and fame. UCLan’s current 1st XI football captain, Mitchell Bailey, who has had experience in professional football with Huddersfield Town said: “I’ve never played in a team with someone that has had problems. But with a young lad who is a top player who is getting loads of money, there will obviously be a lot of temptation with money and alcohol.”
One former footballer that springs to mind recovering from alcoholism is the former Republic of Ireland defender, Paul McGrath. A top player back in his day, McGrath’s life off the pitch included a series of broken relationships, suicide attempts and a dependence on alcohol so great that he once downed a pint of domestos after being unable to find any vodka in his house. Speaking to the Independent back in 2007, McGrath said that the drinking would control his life day in, day out.
“I think even a few people close to me were shocked. I was sick, which is not a great excuse, but it’s the only one I’ve got. I’d get depressed, and then heap alcohol on top, which is a depressant itself. And I ended up doing some of the most ridiculous things imaginable considering that I have [six] children. I’m blessed that they’re being brought up in a great manner.”
However McGrath’s problems only surfaced much later in his life long after his football career had ended. Back in 1994, a tearful Paul Merson admitted to a cocaine and alcohol addiction at a press conference. Thankfully, the Football Association took note and booked the then Arsenal and England footballer to undergo a three month rehabilitation programme but others have not been so lucky in receiving general acceptance.
Recently, the former Wales and Lions Rugby captain, Gareth Thomas broke one of the major taboos that surround sport by revealing he was gay. Talking to the BBC, Thomas said: “It is the toughest, most macho of male sports, and with that comes an image. In many ways it is barbaric, and I could never have come out without first establishing myself and earning respect as a player.”
It is therefore not surprising to find Thomas wasn’t going to come out. “Rugby was my passion, my whole life, and I wasn’t prepared to risk losing everything I loved” he added.
The reaction to Gareth Thomas has been of goodwill, certainly compared to the treatment that the former footballer, Justin Fashanu received after he came out in an interview with the tabloid press back in 1990. The saddening thing is many former colleagues spoke out in anger against him, stating that gays had no place in sport. His brother, John publicly disowned him and constant crowd abuse followed which led to his suicide, just eight years later, unable to cope.
Unfortunately things have not changed, with the taboo yet to be broken any further. According to the ex Chelsea footballer, Paul Elliott, at least twelve Premier League footballers are gay but are afraid to admit it. To add to the point, the England goalkeeper, David James said football is one of the last professions where homosexuality is a taboo issue. He said: “In any other entertainment industry we have gay stars? Why should football be any different? “.
Could sport stars also be helped? The England cricketer, Marcus Trescothick last year that he had considered self harm in his battle with depression which occurred back in 2006. “I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat properly, I couldn’t drink and, obviously, being in India that was a big problem. It quickly manifested itself after two or three days. After telling someone, two or three days later I thought: ‘I can’t stay here any longer.’ My first reaction was: ‘I’m ill; I’ve got cancer or something.’… People look at it as some kind of weakness but it’s an illness.”
In a nutshell, sporting stars are human beings but we all take it for granted as journalists or fans. They are just people that go and pick up a wage, and are expected to do their job in the arena. Will our perceptions ever change?
How can it when the gulf in wealth has been taken to whole new measures in the main spectator sports like football, rugby and cricket? Danny Cipriani and Gavin Henson for instance in the world of rugby have taken the relatively new professional game to high celebrity standards similar to the Premier League in football. Do they care more about their image on the street rather than their rugby playing skills? Why should we care how they are feeling? The case in football of Ashley Cole is strikingly similar. Rejecting in astonishment, a grand total of £50,000 a week, did certainly not endear him to the public, in any way whatsoever. Why? There is simply no relation.