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The sad truth about sportsmen and depression

Hayley Byrnes

by Hayley Byrnes

12 Dec 05:39am

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Filed under: Afl, Depression, Men, Mental Health, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Sport

53 comments

They’re young, women flock to them, kids want to be them and they have bank accounts the majority of us can only dream of.


Being an athlete for some, is aspirational as fronting Coldplay or starring in a Twilight movie, but over the years for a few of these local sports stars, sitting right alongside their expensive watches and foreign cars, lies a transparent side effect few talk about.

Depression.

In today’s game, not all men are immune to moments of darkness and introspection. Depression is now as common as concussions and judicial hearings when it comes to the life of the modern footballer.

From rugby’s Jonny Wilkinson to rugby league’s Andrew Johns to the AFL’s Nathan Thompson, the biggest names have dealt with the downer in silence.

Yet for reasons unknown there doesn’t seem to be an open forum for discussion until after the player retires. Only away from the media spotlight and the daily pressures of playing professional sport do they feel comfortable to speak out.

Two weeks ago International Rugby Players’ Association boss Rob Nichol recently addressed the growing issue at a conference in Dublin.

“The game is doing so much around the physical health of the professional player, and we very much appreciate this. However it is our belief that the prevalence of depression and feelings of despair is significant amongst professional athletes, and that the mental health of the professional rugby player both during and after his playing career is an area we need to put more resource and focus into.”

Despite wonderful campaigns like R U OK day and tireless efforts from The Black Dog institute and Beyond Blue, sadly for most of the general public, depression is still not seen as a believable illness, and in the tough circles off league and union, an individual who is looked upon by most as to be “living the dream” often struggles in silence.

I for one, couldn’t imagine coming home from a disaster day at the office then watching it replayed all over the news, social media and again in the paper the next day with everyone having a say on what I did or didn’t do, or even worse, calling for my butt to be sacked.

Can we even fathom how that must feel for a 20 year old who is at risk of depression, or already suffering?

Now, I can understand the cries from the modest hard-working family attempting to survive off minimum wage screaming “what do they have to be bloody depressed about” at the next athlete who cites he battles with the blues.

However let us remember there was a time when these young men were merely kids running around the backyard with a footy until they were scouted out on a suburban field and brought into the world of fame, money and public opinion.

Where athletes are pushed and pulled in all directions, speaking out and saying you suffer from depression in such a male-dominated sport has at times, been viewed as sign of weakness; they fear it will be seen as an admission of failure.

And so they stay silent. When asked how they are they simply bang on a faux smile in an attempt to hide their angst.

With over 50 Super Rugby caps and close to 30 games in the green and gold Former Wallaby Clyde Rathbone fought his depression in silence, but not before going to hell and back before finding the courage to let the rugby community in on his secret.

“Anyone who met me would think I was completely normal, and I maintained that fictitious existence for years,” Rathbone said.

Existence, or for a better term continuous survival, is hardly “living the dream” now is it?

Steering away from other contributors like gambling and alcohol, depression is now a pivotal issue within the rugby ranks and the IRPA are in the midst of finding a way to decrease the growing number of sufferers before the next RWC.

“We challenged the conference to ensure that by the 2015 Rugby World Cup the game can put its hand up and say that more than any other sport we understand the issues associated with the mental health of the elite player and that we have the screening, education and support programs in place to help those who need it” concluded Nichol.

Apart from Nichol sounding like they’re in competition with other sporting bodies, talking about it is a promising start and I commend IRPA on making such a strong declaration.

Awareness is the beginning for all acceptance.

Comments on this post close at 8pm AEST

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53 comments

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    • Mik says:

      05:47am | 12/12/12

      The Black Dog Institute is doing some good research work http://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/
      Depression is not new- it has been a malignancy of the human condition for a long, long time.. There is the story of Job in the old Testament and various references throughout time though I consider the teachings of the Buddha had it pinned - have often wonderered if he was a sufferer.
      There has been some spectulation among evolutionary psychologists that it may have been adaptive, depressed slaves (a fairly common event of early times) are less likely to run away and so have more chance of living longer. Lincoln had some wise words on the condition http://rogerjnorton.com/Lincoln84.html  .
      Interestingly a recent research paper has found depression to be more common in developing countries and anxiety more common in developed countries. It was, for a time, sold as a “Western” thing though depression is forecast to become a major world disease of the future ( has always been so, just the masks are being peeled off.).
      For sufferers and their carers it is a tough, hard, road. Mental illness are disorders of the mind, not personal choices. It can be managed and it can be overcome though one must always have a “slide alert” plan in place.

      Reply

    • LJ Dots says:

      10:22am | 12/12/12

      Thanks Mik, an interesting post, particularly the evolutionary aspect which I’ll definitely have a closer look at.

      By the way what is a “slide alert” plan? I’ve searched for the term without success.

    • Bruno says:

      11:49am | 12/12/12

      fancy being depressed at being a slave. or the thought of it. I say we find this malignancy and eradicate it thereby noone will feel depressed at being a slave, i mean a number.

    • Mik says:

      12:09pm | 12/12/12

      Sorry, my term, but what some people do while they are in a well period is work out an action plan with their family, friends and mental health provider about what to do if anyone notices that the person is starting to slip back into their illness. It lets everyone know what the early warning signs are and what actions are helpful. It helps everyone, including the sufferer, to be more aware and a written plan means its harder to wriggle your way out of (it is so easy to excuse little changes). You may also be interested in researching how culture/microculture and gender can affect how the symptoms of depression show or are hidden behind other signs/symptoms eg anger, backpain.

    • ronny jonny says:

      05:54am | 12/12/12

      The poor pets. Better class of misery and all that.

      Reply

    • acotrel says:

      06:15am | 12/12/12

      I suggest that if your whole existence really has no substance , you must end up with self-perception issues. Sport is always transient, and there are not many sports that people play beyond middle age.  Where will all those football players be when they get old, the big bank account and the partying cannot last forever ? The trouble with being young is that you often don’t have the maturity to look at the big picture and plan for the future, adopting a positive mindset.

      Reply

    • St. Michael says:

      12:41pm | 12/12/12

      That’s why you should, y’know, have parents who look into that sort of thing for you before you’re permitted to put your life into it.

      I’ve always thought a parent who pushes their kid into a sport—which is what most if not all of these elite athletes require—should really be looking at the issue with other than their own vicarious pleasure in mind.

    • Colin says:

      06:28am | 12/12/12

      I’d be really, really depressed too if I had to kick a bag of wind around a field or throw a little red ball around a field ad nauseam whilst, the whole time, a little tiny spark of cognition somehwere deep in my sportsman’s brain would be saying, “Yes, I know you only play sport because you’re too stupid to do anything else, but I know there just HAS to be something - anything - that you can do that contributes more to human society than this. Maybe you should become a street-sweeper or a window-washer instead..?”

      Reply

    • TimB says:

      07:05am | 12/12/12

      Methinks Colin was the guy who was picked last during PE at school.

      It’s OK Colin. Let it all out.

    • Michael says:

      08:21am | 12/12/12

      Colin, what method do you use to alleviate the discomfort that may be experienced by holding the idea that you are above average in intellect and the reality that you are not so, as demonstrated by Psychohyena during your commentary to Philosopher yesterday?

      I hope it is more than denial. smile

    • sunny says:

      08:34am | 12/12/12

      Ah if only Peter Siddle wanted my job then I could lead the pace attack in the next test series.

    • Colin says:

      08:47am | 12/12/12

      @ TimB

      Oh, Tim, you go on believing that if it makes you feel better. But, reality is, I was excellent at sport (team captain for a year, no less) as well as excellent academically, and it behooves you that someone who was not, in fact, bullied or a wimp at school could possibly have such an opinion. Well, sorry Tim; long-held biased belief repudiated.

      @ Michael

      What i find disturbing, Michael, is that you believe some well-spun rhetoric on behalf of PsychoHyena is incontrovertible evidence that proves me some upstart moron with delusions of grandeur when, in fact, it merely demonstrates that those who would believe the verbal machinations of someone like PsychoHyena are less than genius themselves… But, hey, if you take comfort in goading someone who you had no hand in arguing against by riding on the back of someone else’s - supposed - one-upmanship, then you go right ahead…Sycophant and toady are two words that spring immediately to mind.

    • Borderer says:

      09:00am | 12/12/12

      @Colin
      Yes, I know you only play sport because you’re too stupid to do anything else,

      Who is Nick Farr Jones?

    • Michael says:

      09:06am | 12/12/12

      Colin, so discomfort is what you experience, not denial. Good effort smile

      I too stand on the shoulders of giants.

    • Ben C says:

      09:24am | 12/12/12

      @ Colin

      Was your lack of humility fostered on the sporting field?

    • Colin says:

      09:28am | 12/12/12

      @ Michael

      “I too stand on the shoulders of giants.”

      Oh, goodness. I was wrong when I mentioned “Sycophant” and “Toady”; you’re just plain burrowing in face-first aren’t you, Michael? Buttering-up PsychobabbleHyena with a Newton quote? It’s just plain stomach-churning.

      Or worse; you consider yourself Newton, and you see PsychoBabble as Ptolemy or Copernicus..?!?

      @ Borderer

      Playing sport as an aside at school is not the same as continuing such childish pursuits into making a living out of them in adulthood, Borderer

    • Modern Primitive says:

      09:31am | 12/12/12

      Jealously is a curse, Colin.

      Do you hate Cathy Freeman as well?

    • Colin says:

      09:48am | 12/12/12

      @ Ben C

      “Was your lack of humility fostered on the sporting field?”

      No, it was nurtured in the Accounting class I think…

      But - like sport - I didn’t carry on that pursuit beyond school; I got a real job instead.

      @ Modern Primitive

      “Jealously is a curse, Colin.”

      Indeed it is, MP. But as I am happily ensconced in a career that I love, being paid appropriately, and enjoying a wonderful life, I very much doubt your aside applies to me…Thanks for your concern, anyway grin

    • Philosopher says:

      09:50am | 12/12/12

      @Colin, are you saying you dislike Michelle Jenneke? Even I have my limits. She is a physical genius and I could watch her all day.

    • Michael says:

      09:55am | 12/12/12

      Colin, that could be more discomfort, as i defined Psychohyena and Philosopher as giants whilst i implied you were far less than your own self assesment.

    • ronny jonny says:

      09:59am | 12/12/12

      You know Colin, for an intellectual giant such as yourself to misuse behooves as you have seems kinda odd.
      “it behooves you that someone who was…”, or do you mean TimB now has hooves, he’s been “behooved”
      Too much time spent Team Captaining, not enough time in English class? You sportsman, all the same…

    • PsychoHyena says:

      10:04am | 12/12/12

      Oh come on Colin, PsychoBabble and PsychobabbleHyena is the best you can do? I’m sure you understand that name-calling is the tactic used by people who are incapable of developing a well-reasoned counter-argument.

      I wish I was Ptolemy, not so much Copernicus, though I think I’ll settle for Asimov, his ideas seem to fit more with mine.

      Unfortunately the ‘I too stand on the shoulders of giants’ is not a phrase created by Newton but rather one that was used by scholars for centuries prior to Newton.

      Whatever you might say about sports-people and athletes in general, they definitely have a high-level of commitment to their chosen ‘career’ and a sports-person or athlete who suffers depression because their career is ending or has ended is no less a person than someone who suffers depression because they are made redundant from their job.

      Given all your previous mutterings Colin, I wonder whether you feel the same way about sportswomen and female athletes as you do about sportsmen and male athletes. You like referring to people who play sport as just being male but there are as many if not more females who play sport in some form or another.

    • Borderer says:

      10:06am | 12/12/12

      @Colin
      Playing sport as an aside at school is not the same as continuing such childish pursuits into making a living out of them in adulthood, Borderer

      Umm, he captained the Wallabies, won the world cup is hardly an “aside”.

      Ron Clarke - became Lord Mayor on the Gold Coast

      Shirley Strickland-Delahunty - nuclear physicist and one of Australia’s most sucessful track and field athletes.

      Sports people tend not to focus their attention outside of their particular game since the onset of highly professional sport, it makes them no less intelligent than anyone else.

    • Colin says:

      10:07am | 12/12/12

      @  Philosopher

      “Colin, are you saying you dislike Michelle Jenneke? Even I have my limits. She is a physical genius and I could watch her all day.”

      Sorry, I have no interest in sport whatsoever. Besides, I don’t dislike any individual sportsperson, per se, so your argument is moot.

      @Michael 09:55am | 12/12/12

      Wow. That’s probably the most serious case of Brown Nose I have ever had the misfortune to encounter.

    • Philosopher says:

      10:30am | 12/12/12

      @Colin - why do I often have the feeling that you have modelled your online persona on Montgomery Burns? Although if I recall, he did once buy a baseball team.

    • Modern Primitive says:

      10:30am | 12/12/12

      Psychohyena, Colin conveniently ignored my question about Cathy freeman, clearly he only has a low opinion of sports people who are men.

      How sexist.

    • Colin says:

      10:32am | 12/12/12

      @ Ronny Jonny

      be·hoove (b-hv)
      v. be·hooved, be·hoov·ing, be·hooves
      v.tr.
      To be necessary or proper for: “It behooves you at least to try.”

      Get it now..?

      @ PsychoHyena

      Oh, dear, speaking of delusions of grandeur:

      “I wish I was Ptolemy, not so much Copernicus, though I think I’ll settle for Asimov, his ideas seem to fit more with mine…”

      i don’t know why you and the rest of your sycophantic followers on here choose to feel it OK to believe in your own supposed intellectual superiority, but find it unpalatable to acknowledge that anyone else - particularly someone who does not conform to your views of someone who acts “appropriately” - could possibly be anything but a “Pseudo-intellectual”. Talk about the rabid dogs of insecurity being unleashed on the perceived threat…But, then, whatever floats your boat grin

    • ronny jonny says:

      10:54am | 12/12/12

      Nope, still doesn’t work.

    • marley says:

      11:00am | 12/12/12

      @Colin - well, pseudo-intellectual or not, your usage of “behoove” is incorrect.  “It behooves you that someone who was not, in fact, bullied or a wimp at school could possibly have such an opinion” makes no sense.  Substitute the words “behooves you” with “is incumbent upon you” and see where the problem lies.

    • James says:

      11:08am | 12/12/12

      They play the sport they love and they get paid big money to do so. The fact that some of them suffer from depression is not a free pass for ignorant internet warriors like you to berate them based on what they chose to do with their life.
      I bet your mighty ego would shrivel to the size of a pea if you had to actually say what you have to these peoples faces, but that isn’t how the newfound intellectuals work is it….

    • freethrow says:

      11:26am | 12/12/12

      FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!!!!

    • Colin says:

      11:53am | 12/12/12

      @ marley

      No, you try this:

      behoove

      verb

      Definition: to be necessary, advantageous, or appropriate

      Synonyms: befit, profit, require, oblige, help, benefit

      Antonyms:

      Tips: Behoove is usually used in the sense of “something behooves…” meaning that something is fitting, proper, or prudent, given the circumstances. If it behooves you to do something, it means that doing it will benefit you in some way.

      Usage Examples:

      It would behoove you to tell me what’s wrong, so I can help you sort out the problem. (befit, help)

      It behooves us to provide our employees with the best compensation plan possible. (benefits, profits)

      It would behoove you to be respectful toward your coworkers; you never know when one of them will become your boss. (help, benefit)

      I think it would behoove us to consider his recommendation. (benefit, profit, help)

      So, with this:

      “It behooves you that someone who was not, in fact, bullied or a wimp at school could possibly have such an opinion”

      Replace “behooves you” with “it advantages you (to believe)”

      Nuance isn’t your (or Wrongy Jonny’s) strong point, is it..?

      But, hey, anything to have a go at me, hey?

    • LJ Dots says:

      12:11pm | 12/12/12

      I know this is a serious topic, but surely I’m not the only one who has flashbacks to Major Frank Burns whenever ‘behooves’ appears in any sentence.

    • Modern Primitive says:

      12:13pm | 12/12/12

      Why are you avoiding my question Collin? Do you think that what you typed about sportspeople applies to female athletes at well? Come now, don’t be shy. Why do you hate men so much?

    • Colin says:

      12:28pm | 12/12/12

      @ James

      “They play the sport they love and they get paid big money to do so…”

      And that justifies what, exactly..?

      “I bet your mighty ego would shrivel to the size of a pea if you had to actually say what you have to these peoples faces, but that isn’t how the newfound (sic) intellectuals work is it…(?)”

      Really? I don’t see you knocking on my door to confront me about my opinion, nor is it possible for me to do so on a blog…But, if you think that I wouldn’t say the same things to “Sportspeople”, you are completely mistaken. Given, however, that such a person does not exist in the circles in which I work and socialise - at all or in any form whatsoever - I have not been given the opportunity to do so. grin

    • Colin says:

      12:30pm | 12/12/12

      @  LJ Dots

      “...flashbacks to Major Frank Burns whenever ‘behooves’ appears in any sentence…”

      You mind your own bees-wax..!  grin

    • St. Michael says:

      12:39pm | 12/12/12

      @ Philosopher: “are you saying you dislike Michelle Jenneke? Even I have my limits. She is a physical genius and I could watch her all day.”

      Find the .gif file that puts her pre-race warmup dance on endless loop, and you can.

    • marley says:

      12:57pm | 12/12/12

      @Colin - thanks for proving my point.  In the examples you cite, you can replace “behooves” with “it will benefit you to” or “it is appropriate for you to” or “it is proper for you to”.  You can even use “it is incumbent upon you to,” and the sample sentences make sense.

      Now consider this.  “It will benefit you (or it is appropriate for you/it is proper for you/it is incumbent on you)  that someone who was not, in fact, bullied or a wimp at school could possibly have such an opinion.”  You may think that is a properly constructed sentence, but you’d be wrong.  You’d need to add a whole additional phrase to make it correct.  Or perhaps use a word you understand better than “behoove.”

    • Philosopher says:

      01:04pm | 12/12/12

      @St. Michael: link please smile

    • St. Michael says:

      02:34pm | 12/12/12

      @ Philosopher: Use Google, I have a restrictive firewall. wink

      As for the “behooves” debate - I’ll let Ernest Hemingway speak for me on this one:

      “Poor Faulkner.  Does he really think the big emotions come from big words? He thinks I don’t know the ten-dollar words. I know them all right.  But there are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I use.”

    • Colin says:

      02:56pm | 12/12/12

      @ St. Michael

      St.Michael, quotes Hemingway.

      OK, you win; you’re the most pretentious pratt on here, I concede.

    • Ando says:

      03:44pm | 12/12/12

      “OK, you win, you’re the most pretentious pratt on here, I concede.” Finally some modesty.  Don’t sell yourself short ,you’ve got St. Michael covered.

    • St. Michael says:

      03:48pm | 12/12/12

      That’s all right, old sport.  Better luck next time, eh?

    • Bob from the bush says:

      04:01pm | 12/12/12

      @Modern Primitive, what’s so special about Cathy Freeman? ? ? Apart from the fact that she is an unethical contract breaker

    • Gregg says:

      08:04am | 12/12/12

      It will be great if sporting associations do take the need to do something for professional players as far as alternative professions on board rather than just dwell on what is the best physical output they can get out of a body for an average ten year span when a body is at it’s peak in terms of strength and endurance.
      Professional sports people are pushed so, much because of the demands of club/sport supporters in wanting success for their teams and so not much room is left for too much else so some sort of career planning that outlines what the options are, develop interests and how to go about it would be great for many I suspect.

      A few may have been lucky enough to do training or study prior to stepping up to the fulltime professional level, Max Walker from Cricket is an Architect and also has been and may even still be something of an Author, there have been a few doctors/dentists and plumbers in the AFL in the past and then a few more who have gone into business or politics but all at times when the sports were less demanding.
      A select few go into the media and that may be OK for some.

      I’d reckon skilling professionals up where applicable in what the options would be for adult learning could be the way to go, even fostering an environment where some studies could occur in conjunction with a full time sporting involvement.

      Reply

    • Borderer says:

      09:23am | 12/12/12

      I actually agree with this, sporting clubs should offer scholarships to either university or TAFE’s as part of their recruitment and have study as part of their contract. Professional sports people mostly have a career that will last until they in their early to mid thirties if they reach the peak of their profession and only a few have jobs as coaches or commentators waiting for them. Sure, some will have saved their money and become sucessful business people but for every one of those there a thousand plus Gazza Gascoigne’s. Some turn to crime, drink, drugs and even suicide, there’s a big drop from being somebody everyone knows to finding yourself in your mid thirties and never having held a real job in your whole life.
      The irony here is that if a professional sports club actually went out and developed a player education program in partnership with tertiary education institutes and businesses, they’d actually attract the best young talent available, funny how parents would influence the decision making of whom to sign with when they know their child will be getting a proper education as well as playing professional sport. Off field behaviour would improve too, it’s hard to get up to mischief when your day is full with classes and training. It’s not like they become cloistered monks either, they get to socialise with people on campus rather than seedy clubs and pubs.

    • Andrew says:

      10:04am | 12/12/12

      Maybe you 2 should catch up with the times, professional sporting clubs these days have things in place so players can study and work so they have another career when there sporting career is over.  Also most clubs make sure that young recruitments are even studying or have work.

    • Olly says:

      09:02am | 12/12/12

      Surely you mean the “tireless” efforts of The Black Dog Institute and Beyond Blue? Labelling thier outstanding and valuable work as “tiresome” would be a highly objectionable thing to do.

      Reply

    • Dave says:

      02:40pm | 12/12/12

      Yeah I was wondering what she found so ‘tiresome’ about BeyondBlue and BlackDog. They do good work and recognise the issues with managing depression in various communities. Maybe a typo.
      Anyway, the point seems to be that anyone - ‘big’ or ‘small’ - can be affected by depression and that we should be mindful of the battle that many silently go through - one does not need to be famous to be affected.

    • Bazza says:

      11:51am | 12/12/12

      I walk with the Black Dog everyday. But I don’t have the riches, fans, women, dealers and Andrew Johns-esque gang-rape parties to go to.

      Where’s the eloquent, emotive and hand wringing article about my kind?

      Reply

    • sunny says:

      01:05pm | 12/12/12

      “Andrew Johns-esque gang-rape parties”

      Nah the gang rape parties were the Bulldogs not the Knights. And it was Matthew Johns not Andrew who was into orgies. Andrew was into eckies. You can remember all this by singing this line in the Newcastle song: “You can see Matthew Johns, Andrew Johns, Daniel Johns on a stroll, or as I like to call them: Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll”

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEglk8a1vpA&t=01m15s

    • Philosopher says:

      01:34pm | 12/12/12

      Daniel Johns is rock n roll? More like sushi roll.

    • yawhoa says:

      04:02pm | 12/12/12

      Well done Bazza, maybe the best way to help yourself feel better is to help others, you can start by sending an apology to Andrew Johns for wrongly judging him!. And for any one else on here who want to score points over eachother instead of having a view on the subject matter, i say exchange phone numbers and deal with it some where else.

 
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