Docs rap Freo diagnosis

FREMANTLE has been exposed by medical professionals for making up Jesse Hogan’s diagnosis.

The Dockers confirmed they have stopped using the term “clinical anxiety” to describe Hogan’s mental state.

A club statement on Monday included comments from football manager Peter Bell, who said the star recruit had made poor choices around drinking alcohol because of “clinical anxiety”.

The Dockers have since removed the word “clinical” from that statement and other articles on their website after warnings from health experts.

The West Australian reported several Perth clinical psychologists had concerns about the term, with one saying clinical anxiety was not a diagnostic category and using the term could confuse people about mental disorders.

One said “AFL media spin managers” should not be deciding on the terminology for psychological disorders and that it should be left to health professionals.

Hogan is sidelined indefinitely after drinking too much the night before training, with coach Ross Lyon saying the forward had been withdrawn from Sunday’s season-opener against North Melbourne on medical advice.

Lyon said cynicism about the number of players being diagnosed with mental health issues was not warranted.

“We need to respect this is a mental health issue, a wellbeing issue, and you probably need to back off a little bit,” he said.

“It really is a wellbeing issue here. It was an unavailability for selection because of the wellbeing issue and the mental health issue that we’re working through. Out of that space can be some dysfunction and some escapism that goes down that path.”

Hogan’s former mentor Paul Roos backed the player to fight through his issues.

“In terms of my specific dealings with Jesse, he is just a good kid. But you could tell going from Perth to Melbourne was a very big step. You are leaving your family and leaving your friends,” Roos said.

He said Hogan had shown he was resilient and he believed he would get through this crisis.

“We have seen him get through cancer. He has been through a bit,” he said.

“I am sure some of his teammates from Melbourne have been trying to get a hold of him. I am sure Ross and all of the people at Freo have been fantastically supportive.”