Leading medical journal The Lancet recently published a position paper authored by 24 mental health experts. It begins: “It is already evident that the direct and indirect psychological and social effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic are pervasive and could affect mental health now and in the future.”
It is a hypothesis substantiated by Professional Footballers Australia who last week published findings of a survey of over 150 of its members. Since the suspension of professional football in Australia, 58% of players have reported symptoms of anxiety while 45% demonstrated symptoms of depression. Ordinarily, moderate-to-severe anxiety reporting peaks at about 8%.
“The hardest thing is the uncertainty,” Central Coast Mariners striker Matt Simon tells Guardian Australia. “We’ve gone from being around teammates every single day and training every day to all of a sudden just being stood down without pay and no word on what’s going to be happening and no word on when the next payment is coming for everyone’s livelihoods.”
Such uncertainty must now be prevalent in most workforces, making the insight into professional sportspeople all the more instructive. This is a cohort synonymous with high achievement, resilience and an abundance of positive reinforcement.
“I think there are a lot of misconceptions about professional athletes,” Simon argues. “I saw a story a couple of weeks ago saying that we shouldn’t feel sorry for A-League players because they’ve been stood down without pay. I thought that was an absolute joke, because what about the player that’s sacrificed so much, is not on a lot of money, but he just does it because he loves the game and he’s got three kids at home? Now all of a sudden he has no money coming in. They are stressful times for a player – how is he going to feed his kids?”
Footballers are the victims of greater uncertainty than professionals from other high-profile local sports. The shutdown arrived before the conclusion of drawn-out negotiations to decouple the A-League and W-League from Football Federation Australia. There has been some ad-hoc devolution but no clear resolution, leaving the game looking in many directions for answers.
The situation is made even more perilous by the reluctance of Fox Sports to continue its financial investment in Australian football. The broadcaster has indicated it is looking to withdraw from football as soon as possible, and the absence of matches to broadcast has provided it grounds to withhold the latest quarterly $12m payment to A-League clubs. A legal stoush looms. Little has been said on the record.
What does that mean on the ground? “The silence from the governing bodies, not coming out and giving us any answers, I don’t think is great,” says Simon. “Obviously, some people know what’s going on and discussions are behind closed doors. I think those people need to come out and say what’s happening. If something doesn’t happen sooner or later, like many people around the country, we’re going to have to start looking at different avenues for employment.”
There may be some comparisons to draw with the demise of the old National Soccer League, but the current crisis is arguably more acute, as Beau Busch, PFA’s head of player development, outlines. “When the NSL ended there were opportunities to play in the NPL, Asia, or Europe. The current level of uncertainty is unprecedented,” he says.
This heightened anxiety around financial insecurity is compounded by isolation from teammates and interruptions to training routines, key pillars of an athlete’s mental health. “Players are used to being surrounded by people on a daily basis and there isn’t really any substitute for that,” Busch says.
Or as Simon puts it: “I think all players would be saying they miss the banter in the change room, when you play football for a long period of time your teammates pretty much become your family and you do take it for granted when it gets taken away from you.”
The importance of camaraderie to mental health is not unique to the professional game. All across the country weekend warriors are now missing their fix of mateship.
“Local sporting clubs play such an important community cohesion role around Australia and a tough side of the isolation requirements is the loss of the regular social and physical contact with fellow sporting club members,” explains Dr Grant Blashki, Beyond Blue’s lead clinical advisor.
“There is good evidence that sporting activities are excellent for maintaining wellbeing because they usually combine physical exercise, social connectedness and routine, which are all very beneficial. Beyond Blue’s evidence-based A Guide To What Works, which reviews treatments and strategies used to improve mental health, shows exercise can be of significant benefit.
“We’re encouraging people to plan a weekly schedule in their calendar, including exercise, even if that just involves working out in front of a YouTube video or going for a walk on your own.”
But before despair takes root, Dr Blashki has some words of reassurance. “It’s important to maintain hope and focus on how good things are going to be when sporting codes get back to doing what they do best on the sporting field on the other side of the pandemic.”
