There was a missed opportunity over the weekend and I’m hoping the conversation is still coming (but not holding my breath).
AFL broadcasters and media, I’m talking to you.
Football is more than a game and delivers dozens of protective factors for mental health: beyond the scoreboard there’s a community of people coming together with share interests, spending time with your mates, switching off from the world, directing attention to something that they can be one eyed about, loyalty and of course it evokes a lot of banter and conversation.
But there is one conversation that is missing from the commentary box and that is around player mental health, workplace duty of care, and psychosocial risks.
Witnessing a player having a mental health episode so publicly on the weekend shouldn’t be met with speculation, innuendo, blame, criticism and questions like why wasn’t something done from the commentary box. How about instead we deliver some education, have a conversation about what you do in these situations, demonstrate how to show compassion and care to someone that is struggling and not adding to the shame, pressure and intense spotlight that this player is experiencing.
There is an opportunity here to learn that yes it can look like someone is drunk when they aren’t functioning, when someone is overcome with anxiety that their brain goes off line, that noticing changes in someone and hoping it will just go away because you are uncomfortable isn’t useful… the list goes on.
At the end of the day the football field is a workplace and the kind of human-ing that happens on the field also happens in other workplaces. When dealing with human things, nothing is straightforward.
While there are a lot of opinions about what should or shouldn’t have happened (which I am not going to get into) and Carlton have resources to support the player, I believe the media also need tools to offer reassurance, guidance and education on how they too can support the mental health of the players they work with.
This is bigger than one game of footy.
I’d love to hear if you saw something different to me (Ive switched off from the game and might have missed the piece that helped people understand instead of a stream of criticism) or if this has opened useful conversations around how can we do better as a community to see, understand and care so that ultimately, we are not adding to the weight of living with a mental health condition while trying to contribute to a workplace and navigate life.
This is bigger than one game of footy
