Player welfare and mental health

[Malla]

Do we as supporters take it for granted?

I know we expect the absolute best from our players and for our teams to win.. But these guys are humans. Sometimes for days, weeks, even months they are out of form because of their mental state - and not their physical ability. The whole Buddy situation kind of makes this hit home for me. We won't understand the pressures of being a high paid athlete with the pressure to perform week in week out as a burden and how badly that can effect ones mental health. Had no idea the guy had epilepsy.

I think as fans we can show a little more compassion and respect. Josh Reynolds is one that I have always assumed has had issues from a mental health perspective, hence the brain snaps, although nothing has been concerned. At times what we and the media say can tip a player over the edge. I believe that all players in the NRL are good at what they do, but what differentiates the good with the great and the greatest are their mental state and how they prepare mentally. As an example, guys like Cronk, Smith, JT, Graham etc are always mentally ready and rarely put in a bad performance. You think about Joey Johns and how he was able to perform while dealing with bipolar. Some players can cope, others unfortunately can't.

Larry Sanders is one that stands out too. A guy earning 50 million dollars in the NBA over a couple of years have it all away because he struggled to deal with his anxiety and what the pressures of playing in the NBA did to that.

Anyway. Just my 2 cents. Food for thought!

 

[sultanofsydney]

roughly its believed 1in 5 aussie suffer from mental illness each year so you could guess around 80 nrl players suffer at some point each year, obviously to different levels and in different ways. I don't think there is enough help in general.

 

[dogluva]

Mental illness can sometimes be very difficult to diagnose, especially when a lot of cases are not indicative of a problem. From experience as a mother of a child who has suffered depression it is not apparent at times that they are struggling. Sufferers become so very clever at hiding their symptoms by covering them with a cheerful attitude and the impression that everything is " fine".

It is not until physical signs are noted; cutting, lack of appetite( especially making excuses that one is not hungry) resulting in weight loss or overeating ( weight gain)complaining of headaches, fatigue, restlessness or panic attacks manifest along with an apparent lack of pleasure of things once a source of enjoyment ( anything from watching movies, playing sport, reading etc.)Those things are by no means everything that can occur but ones I am familiar with seeing.

Clubs should implement educational programs highlighting the seriousness of mental illness and encourage their players to talk about them and indeed observe their team mates for the signs.

 

[Malla]

Mental illness can sometimes be very difficult to diagnose, especially when a lot of cases are not indicative of a problem. From experience as a mother of a child who has suffered depression it is not apparent at times that they are struggling. Sufferers become so very clever at hiding their symptoms by covering them with a cheerful attitude and the impression that everything is " fine".

It is not until physical signs are noted; cutting, lack of appetite( especially making excuses that one is not hungry) resulting in weight loss or overeating ( weight gain)complaining of headaches, fatigue, restlessness or panic attacks manifest along with an apparent lack of pleasure of things once a source of enjoyment ( anything from watching movies, playing sport, reading etc.)Those things are by no means everything that can occur but ones I am familiar with seeing.

Clubs should implement educational programs highlighting the seriousness of mental illness and encourage their players to talk about them and indeed observe their team mates for the signs.

Thank you for sharing your story with your experiences with it regarding your child.

The one thing that brought this to light was reading some of the posts regarding Mbye's form of late, and the complete lack of empathy from us (the fans) around what he could potentially be going through as a young man trying to find his way in footy and in life in general. They are humans after all. We have even been harsh on Josh Reynolds at times - it's just not on.

I feel terribly bad for Buddy Franklin. People would look at his situation and think why would he be dealing with a mental illness when he's sitting on a million a year? We don't know the demons he faces on a daily basis nor what his personal life consists of.

I hope your child has found happiness in their life.

 

[dogluva]

Thank you for sharing your story with your experiences with it regarding your child.

The one thing that brought this to light was reading some of the posts regarding Mbye's form of late, and the complete lack of empathy from us (the fans) around what he could potentially be going through as a young man trying to find his way in footy and in life in general. They are humans after all. We have even been harsh on Josh Reynolds at times - it's just not on.

I feel terribly bad for Buddy Franklin. People would look at his situation and think why would he be dealing with a mental illness when he's sitting on a million a year? We don't know the demons he faces on a daily basis nor what his personal life consists of.

I hope your child has found happiness in their life.

Thank you Malla. She is doing well at the moment. A change of school and a new, better set of friends has helped.


Apparently Buddy suffers from epilepsy as well and that probably has not helped.

Money isn't everything in life and it does not always bring happiness , enough to be able to live comfortably is really all we need.