World Mental Health Day: “There is still a stigma in sport about mental health”

People underestimate the importance of being mentally well in football, writes AC Oulu´s striker Ashley Coffey.

I think mental health in football is massively important. I think people underestimate the importance of being mentally well in football. I certainly did when I first started playing professional football in 2020. I was working full time at an English School in Sweden in whilst playing part time football alongside it. Then after a good season at IFK Haninge my life ambition to be a “Professional Footballer” came true as I signed for AFC Eskilstuna. For the first 4-5 months I really struggled to adapt to the level and felt completely lost in the football world. I’d gone from working 8-4 then training 6-9 getting home around 11 pm every night, to training for 2-3 hours a day then having all the time in the world on your hands not knowing what else to do.

It sounds perfect but for me I struggled to deal with the huge change in lifestyle. This in turn led to me getting in touch with a therapist to speak about the problems I was facing. It helped a lot as I was speaking to someone who was completely neutral, that didn’t know who I was, but for me it felt great opening up about my emotions.

I think everyone goes through certain challenges/problems in any walk a life. However in football it is a very cut throat industry to be involved in. Whether it’s not performing at the level you expect from yourself or not getting the contract you thought you deserve. It’s very difficult and can be a lonely place.

I think a lot of people try and deal with their own personal challenges or problems as there is still a stigma in sport about mental health. However, speaking to people and opening up about your own experiences can help other people, it also feels good to air your opinions whether it be family, friends, team mates, therapists. Having the ability to speak openly about mental health is important.

Players of course talk to each other, but not enough! I think if you have close friends within the team people may “open up” about how they are feeling. But I think a lot of footballers bottle up their feelings and emotions and try deal with it by themselves. 

I think mental health is so important in professional football. My advice to anybody going through a difficult time is having the courage to reach out to team mates, their football club, organisations that can help them deal with their issues.

Ashley Coffey

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10th October is World Mental Health Day. The overall objective of World Mental Health Day is to raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and to mobilize efforts in support of mental health. The Day provides an opportunity for all stakeholders working on mental health issues to talk about their work, and what more needs to be done to make mental health care a reality for people worldwide.

MENTAL HEALTH ONLINE
https://www.jpy.fi/fi/peliura/mental-health-online