About a year ago, Shortlist journalist, Andrew Dickens, wrote a feature documenting his fall into and subsequent rise from the disease, depression. In response to this I wrote to Andrew thanking him for so publically outing himself and told him in very genuine sentiment that he will save lives with the article.
I used to work for an NHS trust and during my time there worked on a campaign with a cognitive therapy centre aimed at people suffering from depression and other mental health issues. Unfortunately during this time I was diagnosed as suffering from bi-polar disorder myself and ended up attending cognitive therapy sessions at the centre that I was paid to promote.
In the small town where I lived people tended to stigmatise mental health, seeing it as a failure and an inability to cope with certain situations. For this reason, I felt too ashamed to tell anyone about what was happening to me. This is a view that many who I spoke to regarded as a ‘small town’ issue and for a while I did too.
Just recently, on Radio 5 Live, Geoffrey Boycott dismissed Michael Yarde’s withdrawal from the England Cricket World Cup squad as ‘weak’ after he admitted to suffering from depression. It was insinuated that his standard of bowling was the cause of his depression.
In 2011, should people have to really out themselves as suffering from a disease? There is no shame in suffering from what one in four of the British population suffers with at some point in their lives.
Depression not only affects your emotions, it can affect your physical health too. Can a sports person at the highest level suffering from this disease not still perform at the top of their game?
One in four people experience mental health problems in any one year and with depression and anxiety being the most widespread conditions, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation, Dr Andrew McCulloch, believes, “People in the public eye speaking out about their experiences with depression can really help reduce the stigma around the condition and raise awareness of the symptoms and different treatments available. However, this is reliant on the media covering the issue in an informed and balanced way.
“Being dismissive of the condition or of any one person’s experiences with it can have the opposite effect, fuelling discrimination and discouraging people in need from seeking help, for fear that they too may be treated dismissively.”
In 2009, German footballer Robert Enke tragically committed suicide after battling depression for six years. The stigma caused by suffering from this disease meant that he didn’t admit to his illness. After his death, his wife Teresa Enke said: “He didn't want it to come out because of fear. He was scared of losing Leila.”[1]
Athletes are not invincible and neither is the person on the street. Both are equally susceptible to falling ill and both can face a struggle to find the light at the other end.
Michael Yardy will arrive back in England
Andrew Dickens and Michael Yardy are both proof that there is no shame in suffering from depression. If only I – just as thousands of other men out there who were too ashamed to talk about their illness - had realised that when I was going through my illness, things could have been very different.
Depressed sports personalities
Robert Enke, footballer, Hannover 96/Germany – Suffered from depression for six years and committed suicide by walking in front of a train in 2009.
Marcus Trescothick, cricketer, Somerset/England – Cricketer who suffered from depression and withdraw from the England squad during a tour of India
Shaun Tait, cricketer, Surrey/Australia – In 2008 took an indefinite break from cricket citing physical and emotional exhaustion.
Monica Seles, tennis player – Fell into a bout of depression after being stabbed while playing a tennis match in 1993.
[1] http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/8353733.stm
[2] http://www.sussexcricket.co.uk/news/2665/michael-yardy/
We raised your concerns about Geoffrey Boycott’s comment with the BBC Radio 5 Live production team and they replied as follows:
“Geoffrey’s comments might have seemed unsympathetic but certainly weren’t meant to be. Geoffrey is employed as a cricket expert and explained on air that he had no knowledge of the illness Michael Yardy is suffering from and therefore focussed on his cricket ability alone.”
Addition - 02/04/2011
In response to Geffory Boycott's comments, the BBC had the following statement to make:
“Geoffrey’s comments might have seemed unsympathetic but certainly weren’t meant to be. Geoffrey is employed as a cricket expert and explained on air that he had no knowledge of the illness Michael Yardy is suffering from and therefore focussed on his cricket ability alone.”
