Teach mental health in schools: Kirwan

All Blacks legend Sir John Kirwan has called on rugby players to use the same philosophy with head injuries as they do with standard leg injuries.

Kirwan has been a mental illness advocate since his retirement from the game.

In an interview with Radio Sport, he said it was the advice of a specialist who helped put the illness into perspective for him.

‘‘I went to a specialist and told her I was a rugby player. She asked what I would do with a tight hamstring, and I said I’d stop and stretch it,’’ he said.

‘‘If it was still tight, I’d ice it and go see a physio. She said the brain was no different and that put it in a simple way for me - I thought ‘I’ve got a hamstring in my head’.

‘‘I put some ice on it, which at the time meant taking some medication that helped bring some balance back in my life, and went to the physio, which was called a psychiatrist. I started on my journey of wellness.’’

He said people need to start talking about suicide more if they want to stop it.

‘‘We need to teach mental health in the schools. We teach them maths and science, but not that things might not go to plan and you need to have your mental health in order,’’ he said.

Kirwan believed the pressures on sportsmen meant they were more susceptible to mental illness ‘‘especially when they finish, because the lights go down and the phone stops ringing’’.

‘‘The pressure on young people to succeed in professional sport is a very, very difficult time and we’re quite obsessive by nature. We’re very committed to one thing and you have to be to make it, so there are some tendencies in our sport that make us susceptible to mental health issues.’’