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Post by clarkeda on Dec 19, 2015 8:31:59 GMT
I bet if you formulated a study into depression and mental illness amongst professional footballers you'd come up with some alarming statistics, given what's already been pointed out, 1 in 4 of us will suffer some form of mental illness in our lifetime, transfer that into how many professional footballers there are and that's quite an alarming figure. Also if you're using that statistic, two of our starting eleven are suffering mentally in some way, I'll go for Pieters and Glen Johnson, Pieters because he's Erik fucking Pieters and Johnson because you've got to have some imbalance going on up there to steal a bog seat when you're earning the wages he does. I know your taking the piss with the last post, but I think arnie might suffer. He seems to create a persona that isn't him. And there's always a lot of talk about 'his head not being right' and so on.
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Post by potterblade on Dec 19, 2015 9:10:07 GMT
This doesn't seem like an appropriate game to play given your fairly self-righteous stance on the issue so far.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2015 9:30:52 GMT
Twitter rumours are hardly the most reliable of things however IF they are true then I hope he (or anyone else that suffers, especially over this time of year where there seems to be plenty of triggers) seeks the help available to them. Just a simple request to anyone that feels dismissive in any way about someone suffering from depression because of their wealth, their stable family, or even because their usual demeanour is one which is generally positive and sunny (people can be very good at hiding things if they feel it necessary), please try to be a little more open-minded to the possibility that depression takes lots of different forms and is entirely indiscriminate, and please realise that material and environmental factors are not the only reason someone can suffer from depression. Insecurity has nothing to do with the money in your bank account, and loneliness has nothing to do with the number of people around you - these things come from deep within someone and are not feelings to be dismissed. I implore you that if anyone shares with you that they are feeling a little down or 'not themselves', don't say 'get a grip'; please say 'need to talk?' The same number of words, same number of syllables, but waaaay more helpful. Even if the other person laughs it off and tells you to 'not be so bloody soft' then that's ok, you've planted the seed that says you're there for them if they need you; 'get a grip' is telling them a) it's not something you want to deal with and, even worse, b) it tells them that it is their fault for feeling like shit and they need to deal with it. If you don't feel able to say 'need to talk?' then say nothing at all; let them take the conversation where they want to take it, or if you feel completely unprepared then remind them that their GP can help or signpost them to the excellent people at CALM ( www.thecalmzone.net ), Rethink ( www.rethink.org ) or The Samaritans ( www.samaritans.org ). Between 75-80% of suicides in the UK are committed by men, and those approaching or in mid-life stages are particularly liable to consider suicide as a solution, and the 'Get a Grip' or 'Man Up' attitudes are in no way helpful in addressing this. Apologies if this is a bit too preachy, but it is an incredibly important issue. After seeing first-hand the absolute devastation that depression and suicide has on families and friends, one instance of which is very recent/raw, I think it is important we try to not only change attitudes but to educate people about the support that is available.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2015 12:04:43 GMT
We've seen great players like maradona himself falling prey to this situation. I think it's a mix of a number of factors - the realization that perhaps your career is on the wane, the complete bafflement with all the money you're getting paid not knowing what the hell you can do with such an enormous mountain of dish, perhaps the realization that in fact you should not be earning so much whilst thousands of hard-working people struggle to grind out a living, above all the feeling of being trapped in a golden cage knowing that if you decide to spend your money stupidly your name will be splashed all over the media so you have all that money and yet cannot do what the hell you like with it And some people just have a brain composition that increases their risk of depression, but as you point out there are clearly pressures that come with fame and wealth that most of us don't really understand. To snarl at depression and mental-illness just because someone happens to be blessed with fortunate circumstances is very dangerous because for someone in that position who suffers, the added stigma that this cultural-ignorance places on their illness makes them more likely to blame themselves and less likely to seek help.
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