Mental Health in Rugby

[Mikey Brown]

I'd like this in the general rugby bit but I don't think anyone even looks at it, so it's going here.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/42558254

Anyone else read this?

"De Luca deleted his Twitter account because "I couldn't cope with the abuse", and his anxieties grew so pervasive that he once played a Test match "without sleeping a wink - zero hours' sleep" the night before.

"I'm lucky that I've never had a mental illness, but I have had poor mental health and there are plenty of us [in professional rugby]," De Luca said.

"I've struggled to go to work and enjoy my job for Scotland or Edinburgh, and that was due to not having the knowledge or support around me."

Everyone across the boards on here has certainly been guilty of going OTT criticising players who are most likely putting an insane amount of time and effort in. I'd never have considered seeking someone out on twitter (or similar) for abuse, that's awful, but it wouldn't take too long of looking at this place to find examples of similar criticism.

Obviously this isn't limited to rugby, but I've got to say it's not something I'd really considered that much before. Journos will slate certain players at times but I'd think it's quite restrained in comparison.

What he says about NZ is particularly interesting. Sounds like they're way ahead, as usual.

[Mikey Brown]

That reads like I'm only really interested in the twitter abuse bit, which isn't really what I meant.

How do I embed the whole article?

[Donny osmond]

I've certainly been guilty of it in the past too, altho not nearly as bad as some. Twitter really is the devils playground, and if I was famous it'd be the absolute last place I would go.

On the flipside, when you're shelling out a fair amount of money to watch a team that you've also invested your time and emotions in, I think you're entitled to have a say.

People just need to heed the maxim that you shouldn't say on the internet something you wouldn't say in person.

Sent from my HUAWEI VNS-L31 using Tapatalk

[Which Tyler]

I think Twitter is a massively different beast to a forum in that you're talking directly to the player, who doesn't really get the opportunity to just ignore the comment until it's too late.
Any professional player browsing forums like this is a bloody idiot. This is muttering about someone who is absent, Twitter is shouting in someone's face. I guess Facebook is talking about someone elsewhere in the room.

Mental health though, has to be a problem at the top level of all sports.

[Big D]

I think there is a line between criticism and flat out abuse. NDL definitely got abused.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

I just read that and feel quite bad now.

I can get quite abusive when talking about cock ups - especially years ago but I've never directly attacked a player through social media. As WT says - there is a huge difference.

[OptimisticJock]

I remember him deleting his account but didnt know thimgs were that bad with him. As donny says people are due their say when shelling out the cash tango but there's limits and the shite he got levelled at him was disgraceful. Especially when it's generally some internet hard cunt that would shite themselves if they met in a pub.

I noticed a few weeks back that they've found the first instance of CTE in a living person. I'll try to find the article.

[Mikey Brown]

So you're actually aware of what was directed at him? I'd never considered it may be more than people on a board like this saying he really wasn't all that without Cairns.

Was Twitter a thing when Di Rollo was playing? God that would have been unbearable.

[OptimisticJock]

Nah some if the shite thrown at him was pretty bad iirc. It was constant too.

[Stones of granite]

I must confess that I don't know much about this, either from a Mental Health perspective or with regard to what happens on Twitter - my age being more than the combined ages of Baz, Adder and Big D, I don't use it.
However, I would hazard a guess that it is somehow connected with players coming through a system that produces quality Rugby players, focussing on skills and fitness, but then launches them into the branch of the entertainment industry known as Professional Sport without any preparation for what that entails.

[cashead]

What he says about NZ is particularly interesting. Sounds like they're way ahead, as usual.

That stuff only really came in after the failure of 2007, during Henry, Hansen and Smith's reflection on what happened, separating the factors outside their control (Wayne Barnes' second half melt-down, French tactics to negate Collins/McCaw/So'oialo) and factors within (overall poor, disjointed second-half performance, failure to adapt to or influence referee, etc.). Gilbert Enoka had been involved in NZ sports for a while, but his role within the team was still met with a lot of scepticism and at times derision.

There has been a bigger push to de-stigmatise mental health though, and the new government will be appointing mental well-being teams for students in schools as well (or at least, that was part of their education policy). One of my own students committed suicide late last year, and another had attempted the year prior to that, so this can't come soon enough.

I suppose if there is one positive to come out of Dan Vickerman's suicide last year, it's that there is a lot more focus now on players and their post-career mental health and well-being, with far more openness and candour about how hard that transition from being a professional athlete to just another regular person can be. The NZRPA has since put together a programme for players to prepare for when their career ends, such as assisting them through gaining qualifications and career pathway options, and it seems to be doing reasonably well.

[Mellsblue]

The RPA in England launched a campaign last year:

https://therpa.co.uk/rpa-launches-menta ... -campaign/

[Matt Ha]

I read a recent article on Roddy Grant who was forced to retire because of injury. He said it was hard dealing with the sudden what-the-heck-do-I-do-with-the-rest-of-my-life feeling, the frustration of having a career cut short and the financial instability. He had support and could cope, others may not be so lucky.

[morepork]

I remember him deleting his account but didnt know thimgs were that bad with him. As donny says people are due their say when shelling out the cash tango but there's limits and the shite he got levelled at him was disgraceful. Especially when it's generally some internet hard cunt that would shite themselves if they met in a pub.

I noticed a few weeks back that they've found the first instance of CTE in a living person. I'll try to find the article.

https://academic.oup.com/neurosurgery/a ... 36/4616608

[OptimisticJock]

Forgot all about that. Cheers MP