“I could be on the verge of suicide and you couldn’t tell, because you can’t see inside someone’s mind.”-Tyson Fury.
Men’s mental health goes largely unnoticed with society still having the ideology that men should be tough backbones of a household, with this ideology slowly beginning to change today the idea what men can be mentally weak or vulnerable is unplausible to some people especially when it comes to athletes paid millions per year, average workers fail to comprehend the pressure that comes with fame with everyday life documented to the world.
Tyson Fury and his journey are a key example as to how men can be so vulnerable, and it go so unnoticed with many recognising him as one of the toughest men in the world to almost committing suicide with him describing mental illness as a ‘silent killer’. Men’s mental health and mental illness in sport is today more focused than ever with sports live on television and social media leading to many athletes being subject to hate messages.
Pictured (Max Noble) image from skyspots.com. Mental health among young athletes is a big focal point as the mental health of the younger generation is more openly talked about compared to previous generations. And the football academy system highlights how sports affects young boys within the system. Max nobles story highlights how he had lost friends to suicide after they were released from the academy system dreams shattered and not given a second look after being within the system majority of their lives, the young athletes are pressured into playing through injuries in attempt to reach their dreams or to impress family members that want them to play football professionally. Being released to the young athletes feels like the end of the road with their life being mostly football without it they feel lost their whole life so far feeling like a big waste of time that could have been spent on something that would have benefitted them in later life. Max noble in his interview states “from being on the brink of a premier league contract to then being rejected for a minimum wage job in Asda was completely heart breaking for me” he goes on to say that he had lost two friends to suicide and another two had attempted suicide as they felt like failures after being dropped. The title of an “inews” article about max nobles’ journey was as follows… “I had depression, anxiety, all that trauma… leaving Fulham nearly killed me”.
The corona virus epidemic has highlighted the strain on men’s mental health as people are stuck at home. Sport is known for its mental health and well being benefits and the lockdowns implemented into the United Kingdom have stopped many people from able to participate in sport. The epidemic saw a rise in domestic violence. The Welsh Gym Owner Collective, which represents more than 100 owners of independent gyms, said they were willing to do "whatever it takes" to stay open, and had been ready to break the law, if they had been banned from opening on 9 November. Group founder Lawrence Gainey said closing facilities had already had a "devastating" impact on members' mental and physical health. While people are allowed to exercise outside, alone or with their household during lockdown, Mr Gainey warned bad weather and shorter days would impact badly on people already struggling this shows how gym owners know about their client’s mental health and how sports plays such a big role for some people as a get away it is scientifically proven that sports and Regular exercise can have a profoundly positive impact on depression, anxiety, and ADHD. It also relieves stress, improves memory, helps you sleep better, and boosts your overall mood. Its arguably unacceptable in my opinion that the government can close gyms with obesity such a threat to the population and to then drop the price of cheeseburgers to 45p is even worse. With obesity linked with depression this a serious thing and its clear to see why people are refusing to close their gyms. The government has just failed to realise and or underestimated the sheer impact that sport has on people’s mental health.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Comments