Showing true mettle in fight against stigma

“There’s no doubt that men aren’t as quick to consult doctors about their

health.”

TO MA NY people who haven’t experienced depression, the fact that Celtic manager Neil Lennon is receiving such plaudits for talking openly about his struggle with the illness might be difficult to understand.

There’s no reason why Lennon needed to “go public” – his private life is exactly that – but he has been chosen for a film produced by PFA Scotland with the ScottishA ssociation for Mental Health and see me, the campaign against stigma.

Many well-known people have stepped out of the shadows of depression to talk about it openly in recent years, Ruby Wax and Stephen Fry are two of the best known, but these are people who work in entertainment and the arts.

To talk about what many people still regard as a weakness as a high-profile manager in a game where a show of strength is paramount shows immense of character. Stigma still exists and Lennon will know that.

To risk walking out into the cauldron of a football stadium to face possible derisive chants from opposition supporters shows mettle.

Thankfully, the comments in newspaper stories reporting Lennon’s participation in the film have been largely supportive, even from the Ibrox faithful, but there’s always a mindless minority who are quick to exploit anything that they can.

Lennon’s candour is even more important in the context of the most recent research statistics by the Samaritans. These show that men are at least three times as likely to commit suicide, with those between 40 and 44 years of age most at risk.

Why the leap to suicide? Because that’s where depression can lead, all too easily. There’s no doubt that men aren’t as quick to consult doctors about their health and for those who aren’t clear that they have an illness that can be treated, it can spiral downwards and lead to a tragic conclusion.

Men of this age are more likely to have families and might be reluctant to admit how they are feeling, trying to remain stoic.

Lennon describes being in the dressing room after Celtic had just beaten Rangers and not being able to remember anything about the match. He also recalls feeling completely detached from the euphoria going on around him.

The description of just wanting to go home, turn off the light, and speak to no one is something that many people might not have recognised as classic symptoms of the illness.

The campaign against stigma, see me, says that almost 60% of those they questioned said they keep quiet because they don’t want to burden other people with their mental health problems. This is another classic symptom. The feeling of being worthless to everyone – not worth saving.

It’s not a cliché to say that for the Scottish man who has grown up in a culture of being the strong head of a family, admitting that he needs help might be difficult.

If Neil Lennon’s openness about depression prompts just a handful of men who would have otherwise struggled on “manfully” to seek help, then there’s a good chance that his honesty will save lives.