It's Leo

We have to do better

There is help for those in our community who are struggling with their mental health, but it is evident there is still much work to do, writes Leo Powell

THE RECENT high-profile deaths by suicide sent shock waves throughout the worlds of racing and breeding, both in Ireland and in Britain. The devastation that those tragic events have caused to family and friends, and the pain that follows in their wake, have caused widespread sadness. 

Most racing people in Britain will be aware of the untimely death of Michael Byrne, a former jockey, while in Ireland of the Kilbeggan racecourse managing director, Paddy Dunican. 

Confusion, anger, and many other emotions are typical of the reactions to these deaths, but we must not forget the pain and suffering that those who chose to end their lives endured, and always recall them with love and affection, and focus on the good they achieved during their life. 

Tragedies such as these, and those that have come before, are also a wake up call to the industry stakeholders, a reminder that we need to do everything possible to reduce the causes of such unnecessary deaths, and to become aware of the signals that might alert us to the possibilities that our family member, friend, colleague, or even an acquaintance, is in need of some support. 

The reasons why someone decides on such an extreme action are so personal, so complex, and so very different in every circumstance that it would be impossible to highlight them all. Everyone must be at least aware of the many national bodies, such as the Samaritans, who can offer a service to people in distress. 

Which brings us to the question – what are the governing bodies in racing and bloodstock doing to ensure that anyone involved within our great sport and industry is being provided with the best support, advice and education possible?

It appears that many individual sectors do indeed fund help lines, though from conducting some rudimentary surveying it is clear that not everyone knows how to access them. Many were unaware of the services. When an individual is in trouble, has worries, or is in a deep crisis, the one thing that they do not possess is the clear thinking and rationale to know that they can, or even should, seek this help. 

All representative bodies and organisations need to keep information about these services and their means of contact to the fore with their members. 

One of the clear issues that I found when researching this issue, and from having been an advocate for good mental health for some years now, is that many people still have concerns about addressing the problem. This can be for many reasons, ranging from believing that they will be shunned and not employed if they are an athlete, that owners will leave them if they are a trainer, and a feeling that if they reveal their suffering it is admitting defeat. 

None of this should be so and, with proper support from professionals, everyone can be helped through their personal crisis. We are well aware of campaigns such as “It’s okay not to be okay”, “It’s good to talk” and others, and these messages need to be hammered home again, again and again. It is vital that campaigns about mental health awareness are not just highlighted for a day, a week, or during “mental health month”, but all year. 

While many organisations and representative bodies are providing access to support, and pathways for its members, it is the belief of many that there is a necessity for governing bodies to bring these services together. 

Horse Racing Ireland has addressed the need for industry support for people working in the sector, at every level, but again it seems that most people on the ground are unaware of its availability. 

From my own personal experience, Ireland has been better served in some respects than other jurisdictions, helped no doubt by the fact that the industry is much smaller than elsewhere, and this has led to people being able to have easy access to, and a very personal relationship with, key figures in the sport. 

Dr Adrian McGoldrick, the former senior medical officer at the Turf Club, now the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Body, first alerted me to the high incidence of depression and anxiety within the ranks of jockeys. 

As a practising general practitioner at the time, he also spoke about the growing numbers of patients presenting to him with issues such as depression and anxiety. 

Allied to my own personal journey with depression, and successfully overcoming it, when I was editing The Irish Field we came up with the idea of a fortnightly column covering and dealing with a variety of topics related to mental health. While some questioned the appropriateness of such a page in the main trade paper, I have no doubt people found it helpful. 

Dr McGoldrick’s sterling and pioneering work in this area is being carried on by his successor, Dr Jennifer Pugh. All riders in Ireland will attest to the importance of her advice, her knowledge of the sport and her availability as key to their good physical and mental health. 

The fact that an Irish racing, bloodstock and equestrian paper would have a fortnightly column was a pleasant revelation to Camilla Henderson when I caught up with her on the eve of Royal Ascot.

As her name might suggest, Camilla is a daughter of the multiple champion trainer Nicky, and is a sports psychologist. She has worked closely with many professional jockeys and her work has been catapulted into profile following the death of Byrne.

The Irishman’s untimely passing brought into sharp focus the fact that he was a member of a close circle of friends that included Liam Treadwell and James Banks among its cohort. Tragically, all three have died by suicide. Their deaths have had a profound impact on the people closest to them, though some have revealed that they were offered no support afterwards. 

This is something that has to be addressed.  

Lack of any semblance of proactive help is at odds with many other professional sports, in which clubs and representative bodies take a much more holistic approach to support, even after a player’s career has ended.

Racing needs to do more, and Henderson identifies where the gaps are in racing, as she can directly compare what’s on offer with sports such as football and cricket. 

“If you compare us to professional cricket, professional rugby, professional football, we are so behind as an industry,” says Henderson. “Lifestyle support doesn’t exist, nor does sports psychology for that matter within our industry unless a jockey seeks it and pays for it privately themselves. One of our top National Hunt jockeys asked me last year ‘what exactly is a sports psychologist?’ 

“If you ask for help, it can be provided, but when you’re in that pit, that’s often when it is not asked for. 

“We need to have a better preventative system of support, more spot-lighters in terms of people recognising that someone doesn’t seem him or herself this morning. Off the back of that conversations are opened up; and options for support are then discussed. 

“We need to approach it totally differently than expecting the jockey to call a help line once they get stuck, that process is often too delayed. We need to be preventative, not reactive, in our support systems.  

“It is important that there are people in racing yards and at the racecourses trained to spot the signs of mental health decline, also to implement monthly mental health surveys so we can keep tabs. 

“Racing Welfare is offering Mental Health First Aid courses, and they are free for anyone in horseracing. Sadly, isn’t a big enough uptake on these, perhaps some don’t know about them? It would be great if yard managers, assistant trainers, valets and jockey agents all attended these. 

“I also believe there should be a Psych module on the trainers’ licensing course so trainers are equipped with the right skills to help their employees if they struggle. It could also help them understand how they can support their jockeys using performance coaching tools, similar to other professional sports – continuous professional development should be the norm. 

“In UK business, I think if you employ around 30 staff or more you have to have mental health officers; that is standard in a work environment. But in racing, there’s nothing, its up to the trainer how much support they want to provide, and resources for those trainers aren’t really there, other than the resources offered by Racing Welfare.”

“It’s just the way the industry is working at the moment, in the sense that there is no programme, there’s no holistic support. There needs to be much more real life support, more touch points, more real people (welfare officers) on the ground, who can, for example, visit jockeys in their homes to provide rounded support. Maybe also specialists who can offer financial support if there are money concerns.” 

Henderson continues: “We have got lots of organisations working independently, but they’re not working together. I’ve been trying to campaign for change and I want to work within the industry. All the organisations are doing great things, but the only way we’re going to get everyone working together is for bigger change at the top. Because I’m not actually working for any of these organisations, I don’t have a voice, but I’m doing the best I can.” 

She concludes: “There is a long road ahead if racing is to come up to the standards of other professional sports, but a first step towards reaching that point is for an industry-led group to bring everyone together to form something along the lines of a mental health advisory board. Templates are already out there in other professional sports, its now time for us to take action.

“Pathways for all jockeys with a license need to be initiated to ensure they are supported from the get-go, and conversations around future career plans should be had while they are race riding, not once they’ve retired.”   

Through Equuip, a body within Horse Racing Ireland, there is an industry assistance programme in place for all participants and their immediate families. It is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Not only is the service for people in crisis, but it has information and advice on many areas of life that are stressors. 

Among its offerings are access to counselling for emotional problems and a pathway to structured therapy sessions; legal information for issues that cause anxiety, such as debt management, bereavement support and help with related legal matters, and qualified nurses to offer support on a range of medical or health-related issues.