BUBBLE TROUBLE

Isolation can lead to addiction, eating disorders and depression, experts warn as England ponder Ashes tour

THE use of bio-secure bubbles in sport is threatening to cause a huge spike of athletes suffering from depression, addictions and eating disorders, worldleading experts have warned. A Sportsmail investigation has laid bare the scale of the mental health challenges facing elite sports people, detailing how the damage caused by tightly-controlled environments will linger for years and possibly for ever. Our report comes as England’s tour to Australia for this winter’s Ashes hangs in the balance amid player concerns about spending more time away from their families in bubbles and quarantine. Mind coach Don Macpherson, who says he has almost daily complaints from struggling sports people, warned: ‘there’s never been a situation so threatening to mental wellbeing. it is out of control and threatens to be more out of control.’ the WtA’s Mental Health and Wellness team are ‘tentative’ about using the word ‘bubble’. it can be ‘misleading’, claims vice president Becky Ahlgren Bedics. they prefer ‘Covid-testing environments’. the principle remains the same: competitors are housed in tightly controlled environments to minimise risk of infection. And no shift in semantics comforts those suffering behind closed doors. ‘You get stuck in this neverending nightmare,’ Australian cricketer glenn Maxwell has admitted. US tennis star Reilly Opelka claims life ‘can get dark’ and ‘scary’. the Springboks have ruled out another bubble, saying: ‘it will break the players.’ the downsides are obvious: weeks without loved ones or the freedom to explore. ‘When you have too much time on your hands, you are a sitting target for anxiety and depression — what i call a monkey hijack,’ says Macpherson, author of How to Master Your Monkey Mind. ‘Bubbles cause higher levels of intensity, intensity produces anxiety, anxiety can produce depression, that’s the slippery path. Sadly, i’ve seen a huge increase in depression in young sports people, especially aged between 16 to 24.’

During the pandemic, athletes are contacting Macpherson ‘almost on a daily basis’.

‘i’ve spoken to England rugby players, England football players, tennis players at Wimbledon, snooker players,’ he says. ‘they feel restless, trapped, claustrophobic, flat emotionally. they are anxious and don’t know why, and have no idea what to do or where to go.

‘nottingham (tennis) got very controlled and upset a lot of players. i was getting calls from players threatening to break out during the night, past the guards. it’s almost like Colditz — this vision of tunnelling a way out of the hotel.’

Sporting Minds, a mental health charity started by former Worcestershire academy cricketer Callum Lea, has seen an increase in referrals over the past 15 months.

the charity has supported more than 900 players from across sport since 2020. increased stress and anxiety is a familiar complaint.

One problem? Our tendency to overestimate athletes’ resolve.

‘they appear so physically strong and flawless and there is this inappropriate assumption that it’s the same on the inside,’ says Claudia Reardon, a sports psychiatrist who works with, among others, the international Olympic Committee.

there is, in fact, evidence to suggest that elite athletes are more susceptible to mental illness.

Reardon looked into this with the iOC. ‘We found for most mental health disorders, elite athletes are just as vulnerable as non-athletes,’ she says.

Many can have roots in prolonged confinement: social avenues are closed off, rigid routines are knocked off kilter.

‘if that is controlled by somebody else, you can end up going on a pitch feeling unprepared,’ says Macpherson.

Disruption to sleep patterns can ‘seriously accelerate mental issues’. So can an inability to shift focus. Restricted to that mind-numbing schedule (sleep-compete-roomrepeat) many athletes suffer when they ‘place their whole identity around their sport,’ says Lea. ‘if their cricket or football isn’t going well, it’s almost like their whole life isn’t going well.’

Put more bluntly by Macpherson, bubble life ‘unbalances brain chemicals’. the result? He has seen addictions — to phones, gambling and social media — spiral, as well as worsening phobias and OCD. ‘You’ve got time on your hands. this is when mental issues can flourish,’ he says.

is it any wonder problems can snowball when the world grinds to a halt? After all, ‘exercise itself is a powerful anti-depressant and anti-anxiety intervention,’ explains Reardon. ‘if you’re stopping exercise or decreasing your “dose” of it by 50 per cent, that’s like cutting your anti-depressant dose in half.’

not only are athletes at more risk of some problems, treating them with typical medication can be more complicated too.

‘A side-effect that may not be a big deal to a non-athlete can be a huge deal,’ says Reardon. ‘if it slows down their 100m time by 1-100th of a second... that’s the difference between gold medal or not.’

there are, fortunately, other ways to help. At this year’s US Open, Reardon helped launch a new six-part Mental Health initiative. Following naomi Osaka’s struggles with media obligations, they offered more press ‘flexibility’ to players who might be suffering.

they’re now keen to talk to other grand Slams and the iOC with a view to potentially developing common standards across tennis. Elsewhere, though? ‘What mental tools were offered to the Lions players before they went on tour? none,’ says Macpherson, whose list of clients include wing Anthony Watson.

For some athletes, the worst could be yet to come. ‘it’s completely unsustainable. if bubbles go on for the next 18 months, then Sporting Minds is going to see a huge spike in referrals,’ insists Lea.

the hope, of course, is that problems will diminish as normality returns. Unfortunately, issues brought on by bubbles will not disappear even when they burst.

‘there are people who assume athletes can suck it up and live in this bubble because it’s temporary and then they’ll move on,’ says Reardon. ‘it’s not a temporary thing. We’re not anywhere near out of the woods,’ she stresses.

if there is a silver lining, Reardon believes ‘we are in the early phases of the golden age’ as, ‘especially over the last year, people are really grasping the importance of mental health’. Osaka (pictured) and Co have helped. ‘After an athlete like that comes forward, the next week in clinic i’m busier,’ she says.

Progress cannot be squandered post-pandemic. But as Macpherson points out: ‘it’s not enough to just talk about the importance of mental health… we’ve got to do something about it.’