It has always been recognised that woman were twice as
likely to become depressed, however since the economic struggle the number of
suicides from men has risen and is likely to continue to do so according to the
British Journal of Psychiatry.
Depression has no particular cause; however it is believed
that marriage problems, unemployment, money worries and divorce are all
considered to be major factors behind a man becoming depressed.
So what makes a footballer depressed? For the majority of us
the life of a footballer is seen as the ‘perfect’ job, a huge salary, playing
football for a living, celebrity lifestyle and ladies falling at your feet,
sounds perfect right? So what caused the likes of Robert Enke, Dale Roberts and
Gary Speed all to take their own lives?
Research has shown that men are three times likely to take
their own lives when suffering with depression. The world of football was
rocked again last week when 42 year old Wales manager Gary Speed was found
hanging at his Cheshire home. It is still unclear what drove to Speed to
deciding that his life was no longer worth living. Last year Rushden and
Diamonds goalkeeper Dale Roberts was found in his home hanging after his fiancé’s
affair with John Terry’s brother was publicised. The ‘embarrassment’ of the
affair and an on-going leg injury drove Roberts to committing the act that
brought his life to a premature end.
The first footballer to commit suicide though was German
goalkeeper Robert Enke who in 2009 threw his body in front of a fast moving
train as he looked to escape the struggle that he had battled with for so long.
Recently a book titled ‘A life too short- The tragedy of Robert Enke’ tells the
compelling and emotional stories of Enke and how he struggled with the fear of
making mistakes, avoiding public ridicule and fear of job security as he was
constantly linked with moves to other sides across Europe.
Throughout my research for this blog I found that the media
were becoming more compassionate towards male suicide and more understanding,
so I was surprised to come across Jeremy Clarkson’s comments this week saying
that people that commit suicide are ‘selfish’. Here is a man that earns
millions from a contract with the BBC with the money that we pay them with our
T.V licences, here is a man that is able to voice his opinion to millions of
people through whichever media platforms are stupid enough to give the moron
airtime. I hope Jeremy Clarkson never has to deal with anything that the
families of Robert Enke, Dale Roberts, Gary Speed and the thousands of other
suicide victims go through.
What makes the stories of these high profile cases and in
fact any suicide attempt is that the victim sees ending their life as the only
way out when the reality is that there are lots of people that would love to be
able to help their loved ones. Whatever it was that drove Gary Speed to kill
himself last week, finally male depression is getting the awareness it now
deserves. There are men out their suffering and the Speed case highlights how
it could literally be anyone, even your loved one.
Suicide isn’t ‘selfish’ or ‘cowardly’ and depression is
nothing to be ashamed of. Any one that is feeling depressed or struggling to cope
with life should seek advice immediately.
Here is a website for people that are finding it difficult
to cope- http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mentalhealthinfoforall/problems/depression/mendepression.aspx
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