United front is best approach to fighting depression
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A few seasons ago when I started out in management I tried to sign a young talented footballer who had drifted away from the game for various reasons. After a few conversations with the lad he promised me he would come up training and see if we could reignite his passion for the game.
Unfortunately this young man would not return to the game he loved as he died tragically from a drug related incident.
This young man’s death was avoidable and it had a profound effect on me and all that knew him. I often wonder if I had got him up training earlier, would this tragedy have been averted. Unfortunately we will never know that answer.
While this young man’s death was not from suicide, it draws some parallels with the environments in which young people are finding themselves today. Peer pressure can force young people into situations they could not foresee. Experimenting with alcohol and drugs at an early age are just some of the activities that has the potential to be devastating for them as they get older, and usually there is a reason they chose this path and more often than not they feel there is no one they can talk to. This can lead to a number of tragic scenarios such as deep depression, self-harm and ultimately suicide.
Wether we want to admit it or not, depression and suicide is a serious issue amongst our society today and nobody is immune to bouts of depression. Indeed a recent report by UNICEF revealed up to one quarter of young Irish people felt or suffered from feeling suicidal.
In America a young girl named Samantha Kuberski committed suicide. You may well ask what separates this young girl from everybody else? The fact that she was just 6 years old absolutely beggar’s belief that one so young was capable of such emotional distress.
I want to make it clear I don’t profess to be an expert on this subject and one of my reasons for writing about this issue is because of a course I took last week that was run by a local Cobh based voluntary group called Breaking the Silence. The group formed because of the increase in depression and suicide amongst the youth around the rebel county, although it must be said the increases are not exclusive to the south of the country.
There is a huge stigma attached to depression and courses like these can lead to a more accepting culture. The label of “Mental health” scares and prevents people with depression coming forward for fear of been labelled a “mental patient”. Courses like these can help break boundaries, myths and stigmas while educating us on spotting potential depressive and suicidal people.
What has all this got to do with football, you might ask. Well a lot of young sports people become depressed for various reasons. A bad injury, poor treatment of the injury, longer than expected recovery time, being dropped from the team or even the fear of being dropped can send young sports people into a dark place. I am sure a lot of ExtraTime readers are associated with sporting organizations but are unaware these courses exist and are free.
The course itself was excellent and expertly delivered by one of Breaking the Silence’s founder members Johnny Lawlor. Apart from the course content, what most impressed me was that the whole attendance comprised of officials from the cork school boy leagues. The fact that the Cork schoolboy league has identified and acted on real social issues as well as providing the football for young players is testament to their forward thinking and shows the respect they have for their members.
If all our sporting bodies came together and provided a confidential listening service for our young athletes it would go a long way to dispelling the stigma attached to people suffering from depression. But more importantly it would encourage people from all walks of life to get help without fear of being labelled and ultimately save lives.
Unfortunately this young man would not return to the game he loved as he died tragically from a drug related incident.
This young man’s death was avoidable and it had a profound effect on me and all that knew him. I often wonder if I had got him up training earlier, would this tragedy have been averted. Unfortunately we will never know that answer.
While this young man’s death was not from suicide, it draws some parallels with the environments in which young people are finding themselves today. Peer pressure can force young people into situations they could not foresee. Experimenting with alcohol and drugs at an early age are just some of the activities that has the potential to be devastating for them as they get older, and usually there is a reason they chose this path and more often than not they feel there is no one they can talk to. This can lead to a number of tragic scenarios such as deep depression, self-harm and ultimately suicide.
Wether we want to admit it or not, depression and suicide is a serious issue amongst our society today and nobody is immune to bouts of depression. Indeed a recent report by UNICEF revealed up to one quarter of young Irish people felt or suffered from feeling suicidal.
In America a young girl named Samantha Kuberski committed suicide. You may well ask what separates this young girl from everybody else? The fact that she was just 6 years old absolutely beggar’s belief that one so young was capable of such emotional distress.
I want to make it clear I don’t profess to be an expert on this subject and one of my reasons for writing about this issue is because of a course I took last week that was run by a local Cobh based voluntary group called Breaking the Silence. The group formed because of the increase in depression and suicide amongst the youth around the rebel county, although it must be said the increases are not exclusive to the south of the country.
There is a huge stigma attached to depression and courses like these can lead to a more accepting culture. The label of “Mental health” scares and prevents people with depression coming forward for fear of been labelled a “mental patient”. Courses like these can help break boundaries, myths and stigmas while educating us on spotting potential depressive and suicidal people.
What has all this got to do with football, you might ask. Well a lot of young sports people become depressed for various reasons. A bad injury, poor treatment of the injury, longer than expected recovery time, being dropped from the team or even the fear of being dropped can send young sports people into a dark place. I am sure a lot of ExtraTime readers are associated with sporting organizations but are unaware these courses exist and are free.
The course itself was excellent and expertly delivered by one of Breaking the Silence’s founder members Johnny Lawlor. Apart from the course content, what most impressed me was that the whole attendance comprised of officials from the cork school boy leagues. The fact that the Cork schoolboy league has identified and acted on real social issues as well as providing the football for young players is testament to their forward thinking and shows the respect they have for their members.
If all our sporting bodies came together and provided a confidential listening service for our young athletes it would go a long way to dispelling the stigma attached to people suffering from depression. But more importantly it would encourage people from all walks of life to get help without fear of being labelled and ultimately save lives.
