Fighting the inner battle – Cricket and mental health
Mental health is certainly not given the importance it deserves. Let alone importance, our views and understanding of the issue end up intensifying the problem to a much bigger extent. The problem lies with the opinions of many who neither consider mental health a real issue nor mental illness a real problem.
A shocking belief, especially in Asian countries, is that those who have successful careers, handsome salary, and good bucks lying in bank accounts can never have mental health issues, for they have no reason to! The association of unsuccessful careers and subsequent depression is prevalent and most people do not hesitate in blatantly denying a claim made to the contrary.
It needs to be accepted that mental health issues can arise and occur to anyone regardless of class, color, race, occupation, or sex. A clichéd view is that men can’t be depressed and those who get are weak. Attaching such stereotypes and stigmas to such problems that actually deserve extra care and attention enforces the sufferers to instead go in a cocoon and eschew from making confessions.
In 2017, a study of Common Mental Disorders (CMDs) was organized among 384 European professional footballers. The study suggested that 37% of them had symptoms of anxiety or depression at some point over a 12-month period. To date, there is barely any evidence that shows that people involved in professional sports experience mental health issues more than others, however, as per the views of distinguished sports psychologists. the ever-demanding nature of sports aggravates such issues.
Mental health issues, cricket, and causes
The world of cricket has not been left bereft of issues and many, many renowned players have accepted facing such issues during their careers. Jonathon Trott, the excellent English batsman and ex-captain, called it quits just one Test into the 2013 Ashes series. Suffering from anxiety, Trott’s mental health deteriorated despite having an excellent average of 86.42 against Australia up until that point.
Contrary to the ill-informed belief that success and mental health issues cannot survive together, Trott, who was immensely successful, was diagnosed with stress disorder, anxiety, and depression. For sportspersons, training, peer pressure, performance demands, can lead to high psychological stress. Top this off with relentless public scrutiny and facing the pressure from fans and media, and the recipe for disaster gets complete.
Other English cricketers apart from Trott such as Mike Yardley, who left the 2011 World Cup in between, and Steve Harmison, who feared never returning to the national team again, have also opened about facing problems in the past. Their teammate Kevin Pietersen also blamed the packed schedule of cricketers becoming a cause of concern and pushing players into such territories.
Outside England
Last year, the dazzling Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell had come out to accept suffering from depression and he resultantly took a break from international action. The issue has been thrust into the spotlight in Australia as Nic Maddinson and Will Pucosvski joined Maxwell and took an indefinite break from cricket citing their deteriorating mental health.
Also read: Glenn Maxwell takes a break from cricket to deal with mental health issues
However, it is not restricted to English or Australian players as the Indian skipper, Virat Kohli confessed that after the dreaded tour of England in 2014, he suffered from such issues but the lack of understanding and awareness in the sub-continent meant that he was unable to take time away from the game and work on these problems. Kohli was all praises for Maxwell and believed that it was courageous of him to admit it.
If men are unwilling to confess their psychological woes, women don’t find it easy either. The example of Sarah Taylor who made women’s cricket a global brand is relevant as she had to retire at just 30 due to anxiety issues.
Acceptance of such issues and the taboos around it
The idea of masculinity has taken a toxic turn as players are revered as heroes. Men are taught to be not too expressive and be “masculine” in order to be separate from women. And the sport has been a major platform for displaying masculinity.
Until Trescothick’s admission, the world of cricket was unknown to such issues. The averseness to confess rises from the societal notions which require men to be strong. A plethora of cricketers of yesteryears stated that they suffered from stress and anxiety but did not open up due to the stigmas and the taboos around it. They feared being labelled as “weak” and “less manly” if they were not able to solve such issues on their own.
The way ahead
Social media has added a whole new dimension to the vulnerability of cricketers, however, the responsibility cannot be taken away from the game’s governing bodies. Furthermore, the exponential rise in the frequency of matches and mushrooming of T20 leagues across the globe has a part to play. It is, therefore, imperative to relax the schedules and calendars of the players so they have ample time off to cater to their personal needs.
The stories above are only a few examples to make us understand that it is high time mental health is given the importance it deserves. The stigmatization of mental illness must be avoided and the societal notions that revolve around men must be forced out of the system with utter immediacy to tackle such problems. One should never hesitate to confess and stay under the pressure of being labelled. As individuals, let’s take a vow to never hesitate from lending an ear to the ones in need.
