Posted: Thursday 12 November 2009
As a long suffering Reading FC fan, and a keen supporter of England, the ups and downs of football are a big part of my life.
So this week's news of the suicide of Germany's goalkeeper Robert Enke is desperately sad for his family and friends, and for football supporters everywhere. Here was a player at the top of his sport who took his own life. Why?
Perhaps the words of his courageous widow give us a clue - "he was fearful he would lose Leila." Enke was depressed and desperately anxious about the consequences of his depression. He feared for his livelihood but most of all he feared that he would lose his adopted daughter. He said that he had deliberately not talked about his mental state.
Sadly, he's not alone. Time to Change, the national campaign to end the discrimination faced by people with mental health problems, found that many people fear disclosing their mental distress to employers, to authorities, even to friends and family. The fear of stigma can in turn lead to a greater sense of isolation and despair. In some tragic circumstances that in turn can lead to people choosing to take their own lives. Over 5,400 people in the UK take their lives every year.
But maybe from this tragedy of Robert Enke's suicide, some good will come. The media coverage of this has been sensitive and fair. Messageboards like the BBC's 606, where fans are not afraid to say what they think, has been sympathetic and concerned - it feels like the football community has united in its compassion for one of our own.
Perhaps the most important message has come from those who have said that it should be unacceptable that people feel they have to hide their poor mental health from others, that we as a society should be more supportive of people and bury the stigma once and for all.
For anyone out there who may be suffering in silence, Mind can help, so please get in touch with MindinfoLine on 0845 766 0163.
Paul Farmer, Chief Executive
What a poignant and thoughtful post. I too was buoyed by the sensitivity of the news coverage of Enke's death, and am hopeful that it will augur a future where depression can be spoken about more openly. Nowhere is this needed more than in the sports world, whose macho culture has made discussion of mental illness all but taboo.
Perhaps, then, Enke's death will help everyone, no matter their profession or field, become a bit more honest, open and supportive to those experiencing distress.
Absolutely agree Paul, as you know the "See Me" Anti Stigma/Discrimination campaign in Scotland has been active for some years now and has good evidence of a developing change in the attitudes of the Scottish public. One of the first campaigns we did involved football as a theme and has included football clubs signing a pledge to fight Stigma and Discrimination in Mental Health, postcards being given out at the turnstiles and advertising on strips, pitchside and in programmes. The footballers suicide illustrated to me that Stigma/Discrimination and the fear of disclosure is a worldwide issue. I welcome you comments and your participation in the BBC World Service programme on Friday 13th, however please remember not to imply or state that Mind are a UK organisation, as, of course, they are not active in Scotland or Northern Ireland.
This is a tragic loss, both to the world of sport and for Robert Enke's distraught family and friends. It is not easy for any man in the predominantly macho sporting arena to disclose mental health problems. It is still taboo, because it is shrouded in fear of the unknown. Ignorant people can cite mental distress as weakness in a man, no more so than in international sport. Yes, there will be those who understand or have first-hand experience. But there will also be those who, as in the theatre of the Great War, will turn on perceived frailty. I think there is a terrible worldwide, especially western, tendency for men to clam up about their internal mental life. There may be no outlets for them to express fears to their peers. In the case of Robert Enke, there may well have been some emotional traumas that encircled and worried him. The end result is devastating. How much it is due to a fine man feeling unbearably lonely in a high-profile profession is a question that may never be answered. Sportsmen are not immune. From jockey Fred Archer onwards, pressures have taken their relentless toll, even on gifted men. Frank Bruno, Tony Adams, Paul Merson, Paul Gascoigne...the list of psychological casualties is long and across different sporting lives. I don't like to say it - but a badly broken leg is preferable to a mental health problem. They both ruin careers, but one receives much more sympathy than the other.
I would add to that list Justin Fashanu, the gifted footballer who took his own life 11 years ago, having suffered both racism and homophobia.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/7930310.stm
It's interesting that a stigma towards mental health issues exists, almost silently, and it probably survives due to the fact that not enough awareness is being promoted through the key channels of communication in our society. Stories such as that of Robert Enke are very rare and they don't hold media attention for long or encourage further analysis and report. It is unfortunate as the media is an extremely powerful tool in creating awareness and I believe that because 'news' sells, it might have to take a renowned politician or 'celebrity' to drive the creation of justice for the mind.
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