Mental health remains a taboo in many communities until someone prominent, like a celebrity, passes away as a result of this health condition.
The stigma attached to mental illness and mental health issues is in many cases not shared with family members, friends and colleagues, resulting in many people bottling up and keeping their battles with the condition to themselves, until breaking point.
On Wednesday, American DJ Stephen Laurel “tWitch” Boss shared a video of his happy self on Instagram. On Thursday, news broke that the Ellen DeGeneris talkshow star had killed himself. He shot himself in the head, according to news reports.
For many sports people, the expectation is to bite the bullet and soldier on, but as seen in recent media reports, depression is real in the sporting fraternity.
Over a week ago, Blue Bulls and Springboks winger Sbu Nkosi mysteriously showed up after disappearing for three weeks. Nkosi was eventually found at his father’s house in Emalahleni, Mpumalanga by the Blue Bulls chief executive, Edgar Rathbone.
During a media briefing the next day, Rathbone gave more insight into the player’s state of mind, pleading with members of the public to give the 26-year-old space to deal with his mental health issues.
“We need to give him his space and allow him to recover. We are arranging support, we are there to give him his space,” he said.
Prominent international athletes including Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka, Everton striker Dominic Calvet-Lewin and US gymnast Simone Biles, among others, recently addressed their battles with mental health issues in public.
In a recent interview with Robin Roberts on Good Morning America, Osaka explained why she needed to take a break from the sport in order to tackle her mental health issues head on.
“I felt like it was necessary, but I kind of felt ashamed in that moment because as an athlete, you are kind of told to be strong and kind of push through everything, but I think I leant that it’s better to regroup and address the feelings that you have in that moment and you can come back stronger,” said Osaka.
Ahead of the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar, expert Rubymarie Rice of Pinsent Masons said the need for action against mental health is demonstrated by the increasing number of high-profile athletes reporting their struggles of dealing with mental wellbeing.
“Athletes’ mental health needs are as important as their physical health needs. Both contribute to their overall wellbeing and performance, and so their mental health needs must be protected and nurtured in the same way their physical health needs are,” Rice said.
“This will be an issue that could impact on performance of footballers on the pitch at the World Cup, if they are targeted.”
Fifa is currently utilising technology to monitor online abuse aimed at players during the World Cup, and is applying a moderation service to curb the reach of abusive comments on social media platforms.
Second vice-president and head of high-performance commission at the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee, Dr Debbie Alexander, advised athletes on how to deal with social media backlash.
“The thing I want to say to athletes is that it’s your choice to engage with social media or not. If you choose to engage in social media platforms, I want to say do it wisely, choose when you engage, what topics you engage on and how you engage,” Alexander said.
“What I mean is that instead of reacting to comments, just pause for a few days before you respond, and when you respond, do it objectively, unemotionally and in a wise way.”
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