Mental illness prevalent in pro soccer, study reveals
International research sheds light on sport’s unexplored ‘dark side’
LONDON — One in four professional soccer players said they suffer symptoms of anxiety and depression in a new study into the sport’s largely unexplored “dark side” of mental illness.
The mental health of recently retired professional players was even more worrisome, with one in three reporting signs of anxiety and depression.
Some 300 current and former professionals — from the Netherlands, Major League Soccer, Scotland, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand — took part in the study for the players’ union, FIFPro.
While soccer can draw on reams of scientific study about players’ physical injuries, little research has previously been done into their mental health, and mental health problems have remained very much taboo in the sport, FIFPro chief medical officer Vincent Gouttebarge said.
“There is definitely some dark side of professional football (soccer),” he said in an interview. “We don’t talk about mental health issues in the sport, or we didn’t talk about this issue.”
“It’s quite a macho culture so people do not talk about it.”
Gouttebarge said the study’s findings suggest that players are no less prone to mental illness than other younger people in the general population. He said that might surprise fans who believe players live comfortable, worry-free lives, with media attention often focusing on the wealth of the most successful players.
“Contrary to what people think, professional footballers experience psychological problems just like other groups in the population,” Gouttebarge said.
Among the 180 active players who responded to the lengthy questionnaire, 10 per cent reported symptoms of distress, five per cent reported signs of burnout and three per cent said they suffered from low self-esteem. Nearly 20 per cent reported problems with alcohol, which Gouttebarge said could include binge-drinking and regularly drinking too much, and seven per cent said they smoked.
The 121 former professionals who responded on average had 12-year playing careers and have been retired for five years. Fifteen per cent showed signs of burnout and 18 per cent signs of distress. One in three reported drinking problems, 12 per cent smoked, and 39 per cent reported suffering from depression and anxiety.
Gouttebarge said that could include worrying, mood swings, difficulties sleeping, feeling stressed, not being sociable or a combination of symptoms.
“Mental illness seems to occur among former professional footballers more often than in current players, and more often than in other populations. Consequently, mental illness among former professional footballers cannot be underestimated and should be a subject of interest for all stakeholders in football,” the study said.