Aaron Lennon Isn't Just Blue

credit; Mirror

It's bothering me that it's come to this breaking point in a young man's life before people take his feelings seriously. Everton's Aaron Lennon was hospitalised and detained under the Mental Health Act earlier this month where he is receiving treatment for a serious stress-related illness. Sadly he's far from the first one too.

The stigma around men 'showing weakness' is hard to break - but once you throw the footballer status into the same mix, it becomes unheard of that these people actually feel emotion. People beg the questions 'what can be stressful about kicking a ball around?' 'What's not to love when you earn thousands of pounds a week and drive a flash car?' But things are far from that simple. Being a Premier League footballer doesn't grant you immunity from work related stress and having a lavish lifestyle doesn't stop you from becoming depressed.

Football Stigma

To play football you need thick skin; coping with losses, being benched or sent on loan and the thousands of rival voices bellowing their boos and chants at you. But what doesn't come with the job is real personal problems. Intense fans become easily stirred when their favourite players take time off for personal healing. Home issues often become the butt of disgustingly unfunny jokes and although it may be small, there's still a chance that these comments will be noticed by the player and feel even worse about returning to the dressing room.

Although some of them definitely perform like one, athletes aren't machines. Physical strength will not carry you through mental health problems and being male does not make you immune to hardships. Suicide is the leading cause of death in males and yet uppity media idiots continue to dismiss these figures like they aren't on the rise. Widely despised Piers Morgan tweeted that it's just a case of 'manning up' - you'll find his ultra sensitive self help breakthrough book online at whydoistillhaveajob.com.

When it boils down to it, football is just a sport. It's a sport we watch for leisure and it's a job for those that play it. Humans play it and the managers have a duty of care as much as any other profession manager. I've battled depression extensively for years myself, and it has every difficulty being physically ill can ail you with. I'm at least glad that Aaron will no doubt be receiving intense support and be taking a lot of needed rest to get both his body and mind fit again to get back on that pitch.

credit; The Indian Express

Mauricio Pochettino has left him a heartfelt message and when he returns I really hope he sees the mountains of kind words being said by both his former manager and football fans across the country. No one should feel like they're alone and with such a strong football community, we can't allow mental illness to isolate our brothers.

Stay well and don't be afraid to seek help!