The official magazine of the Football Medicine & Performance Association
football medicine & performance
Issue 30 Autumn 2019
Feature
David Cotterill’s Road to Recovery FOCUS ON: Mental Health The Role of a Psychotherapist in a Football League Club Hidden in Plain Sight – Mental Health Challenges in Football Clubs Substance Abuse and Gambling in Professional Football Managing Mental Health Emergencies in Elite Football
Legal Ţ Education Ţ Recruitment Ţ Wellbeing
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CONTENTS WELCOME
8
Updates
FEATURES
10
Injury Mitigation in Team Sports. Part-1: A Review of Current Dogma Colin W. Fuller
13
The Role of Football Clubs in Supporting Community Mental Health Initiatives Dr Alan Pringle
15
David Cotterill’s Road to Recovery
16
The Role of a Psychotherapist in a Football League Club Gary Bloom
20
Mental Health Symptoms in Professional Football Vincent Gouttebarge, Gino Kerkhoffs
24
ABOUT
27
Golf. The Ultimate Mind Game? Dr Andrew Murray
28
Substance Abuse and Gambling in Professional Football Gary Souter
32
Mental Health of the Elite Young Athlete Manroy Sahni, Johnson Pok-Him Tam
34
Managing Mental Health Emergencies in Elite Football Tim Rogers
37
Getting Back in the Driving Seat: Taking Control of Your Work, Life and Wellbeing
40
FMPA Register
Hidden in Plain Sight – Mental Health Challenges in Football Clubs Dr Misia Gervis, Lara Baker, Osimeiro Imoedemhe
Football Medicine & Performance Association 6A Cromwell Terrace, Gisburn Road, Barrowford, Lancashire, BB9 8PT T: 0333 456 7897 E: info@fmpa.co.uk W: www.fmpa.co.uk FMPA_Official Officialfmpa fmpa_official LinkedIn: Football Medicine & Performance Association FMPA_Register FMPARegister fmpa_register Chief Executive Officer Eamonn Salmon eamonn.salmon@fmpa.co.uk
Design Oporto Sports www.oportosports.com
Executive Administrator Lindsay Butler admin@fmpa.co.uk
Photography PA Images, FMPA, Getty Images
Administration Assistant Amie Hodgson amie.hodgson@fmpa.co.uk Project Manager Angela Walton angela.walton@fmpa.co.uk Marketing/Advertising Charles Whitney 0845 004 1040
Contributors Colin W. Fuller, Dr Alan Pringle, Gary Bloom, Vincent Gouttebarge, Gino Kerkhoffs, Dr Misia Gervis, Lara Baker, Osimeiro Imoedemhe, Dr Andrew Murray, Gary Souter, Manroy Sahni, Johnson Pok-Him Tam, Tim Rogers Print Media Village www.media-village.co.uk
COVER IMAGE Birmingham City’s David Cotterill. Birmingham City v Nottingham Forest - Sky Bet Championship - St Andrew’s. Dave Howarth / EMPICS Sport / PA Images
Football Medicine & Performance Association. All rights reserved. The views and opinions of contributors expressed in Football Medicine & Performance are their own and not necessarily of the FMPA Members, FMPA employees or of the association. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a retrieval system without prior permission except as permitted under the Copyright Designs Patents Act 1988. Application for permission for use of copyright material shall be made to FMPA. For permissions contact admin@fmpa.co.uk
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mental health
HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT – MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES IN FOOTBALL CLUBS FEATURE / DR MISIA GERVIS, LARA BAKER & OSIMEIRO IMOEDEMHE Recently, mental health and player wellbeing has been more openly discussed with an acknowledgement that clubs need to take responsibility for player welfare. Indeed, it has been well documented that footballers are at risk of experiencing a range of mental health problems1,2. Research has identified that up to 26% of current and 42% of former footballers reported suffering from disordered eating and eating disorders3,4, and approximately 26% of current and 39% of former players have experienced anxiety and depression3,5. However, eating disorders can easily be missed and are difficult to diagnose within football, as their
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distinguishing features are often too readily accepted as a normal part of an elite athletic lifestyle. Injury presents a particular risk to players’ mental health. There is considerable evidence that injury escalates the incidence of depression, anxiety, addiction, eating disorders, generalised anxiety, PTSD and suicidality5-7. The lack of appropriate psychological support throughout rehabilitation means that common harmful coping strategies are being used. These include the misuse of alcohol and prescription drugs, particularly in long-term injured athletes.
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Football clubs often fail to identify the incidence and implication of mental health problems in their athletes8 which is a cause for concern. For instance, depression is often misdiagnosed as over-training as the latter is perceived to be more acceptable and less threatening. Consequently, incidences of depression might be considerably higher than what is currently reported. An unintended result of this is the perpetuated stigma surrounding mental health difficulties, particularly within male dominated sports. These factors create a problematic system that leaves athletes without sufficient support to address their symptoms,
football medicine & performance resulting in the crucial window of early intervention being missed. Additionally, footballers are less likely to engage in help seeking behaviours due to the stigma that is attached to mental health problems. The evidence presents a compelling need to address mental health in players. Improving mental health literacy is paramount given research has highlighted that poor mental health literacy is a key obstacle to engaging in help-seeking behaviours9. Indeed, it has been demonstrated that mental health literacy programmes improve understanding and awareness and create behavioural change in football contexts10 . It has been recognised that other individuals working in sport (e.g coaches and officials) are also at risk of stress and burnout, and also require emotional support11. However, currently there is no research that has addressed this from the perspective of staff working within football. Given that the sole focus is on players, this highlights the limited approach that has been taken to address mental health issues in football clubs. Supporting the mental health of coaches and improving their mental health literacy may improve the emotional climate of the club and
improve performance and relationships11. However, there are few mental health literacy programmes that have been adapted for everyone. This disregards evidence highlighting the harmful attitude in football of praising mental toughness and discouraging disclosure of perceived weaknesses12. Indeed, the normalisation of the “man-up” culture has meant that football has been slow to acknowledge an inherent culture that may be contributing to mental health problems. Due to the high stakes involved in the industry, football clubs can be described as ‘front line’ organisations with constant threat to both players and staff13. These threats include: periods of transition and instability (e.g. on loan, moving clubs, injury, managerial change deselection, poor performance, losses), public scrutiny and high turnover of staff. In first team football living with crisis becomes the norm. This has an impact on the functioning of the club and everyone working within it. Research has shown that there are consequences when threat is not acknowledged14. Such organisations are structured around unhealthy systems and patterns of behaviour, which can compromise the performance, and wellbeing of everyone in it. Below are some of the ways in which individuals are affected (adapted)14:
Disempowerment
Football clubs often fail to identify the incidence and implication of mental health problems in their athletes which is a cause for concern.”
Impaired Judgement/ Thinking and Decision Making
Impaired Communication
Loss of Emotional Management
Players/Staff Lack of Basic Safety and Trust
Increased Feelings of Uncertainty
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mental health
football medicine & performance
1. Reardon, C. L., Hainline, B., Aron et al., (2019). Mental health in elite athletes: International Olympic Committee consensus statement (2019). British journal of sports medicine, 53(11), 667-699. 2. Gouttebarge, V., Backx, F. J., Aoki, H., & Kerkhoffs, G. M. (2015). Symptoms of common mental disorders in professional football (soccer) across five European countries. Journal of sports science & medicine, 14(4), 811. 3. Gouttebarge, V., Frings-Dresen, M. H. W., & Sluiter, J. K. (2015). Mental and psychosocial health among current and former professional footballers. Occupational medicine, 65(3), 190-196. 4. Bratland-Sanda, S., & Sundgot-Borgen, J. (2013). Eating disorders in athletes: overview of prevalence, risk factors and recommendations for prevention and treatment. European Journal of Sport Science, 13(5), 499-508. 5. Kiliç, Ö., Aoki, H., Goedhart, E., Hägglund et al., (2018). Severe musculoskeletal time-loss injuries and symptoms of common mental disorders in professional soccer: a longitudinal analysis of 12-month follow-up data. Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy, 26(3), 946-954.
While these would not be considered as mental health problems per se, they are indicative of impaired mental functioning and can be the precursors to more severe issues. When there is constant threat this creates uncertainty, therefore, there is an increased presence of fear, worry, anxiety, perceptions of vulnerability, avoidance of decision-making and reduction in help seeking behaviours. This creates a culture where people feel like temporary assets and are unsure of their futures. This feeds into their vulnerability and diminished sense of belonging. The outcome of this is that people and the organisation stop functioning optimally. The Way forward So, whilst recognition of the challenge of working in football is being brought to the fore it is important that action is now taken to implement solutions to create a safe space for all, where awareness of difficulties and asking for help are accepted as the norm. In order to create cultural transformations within football, that firmly puts the wellbeing of everybody on the agenda, change must happen across every level of the club. It is only through proactive resourced prevention supported by committed management that cultural shift can occur. It is recommended that clubs implement an active mental health strategy that includes the following elements: ~
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Improve mental health literacy across the organisation, facilitated by appropriately qualified and skilled individuals, as this is the cornerstone of change. Develop strategies of proactive
prevention including enhancing resilience through focused education. ~
~
~
Appropriate support and supervision should be available for staff as well as players when needed. Improved awareness of self and others leads to early interventions and enhanced empathy and understanding. This also reduces stigma surrounding mental health problems, encouraging open communication and increasing helpseeking behaviours. Designate a team of mental health first aiders, preferably psychologists, who will be responsible for managing a number of functions including the education of primary stakeholders to help increase mental health literacy and being the main point of contact for staff and athletes where mental health issues are concerned15. Develop a ‘whole’ system approach to consider the organisational as well as individual response to threat. Inherent in this is embedding a robust reflective system that closely monitors the impact of the strategy at every level of the organisation.
If these recommendations are put into practice, the impact on wellbeing and performance is likely to be enhanced. However, it is not enough to just focus the mental health agenda on players, ignoring the staff and the organisation. To do this will only serve as a temporary plaster and old problems will inevitably resurface.
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6. Gervis, M., Pickford, H., Hau, T., M. (2018). Professional Footballers’ Association Counsellors’ Perceptions of the Role Long-Term Injury Plays in Mental Health Issues Presented by Current and Former Players. Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, 1(aop), 1-29. 7. Heaney, C. (2006). Physiotherapists’ perceptions of sport psychology intervention in professional soccer. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 4(1), 73-86. 8. Gervis, M., Pickford, H., Hau, T., & Fruth, M. (2019). A review of the psychological support mechanisms available for long-term injured footballers in the UK throughout their rehabilitation. Science and Medicine in Football, 1-8. 9. Lawrence, D., Johnson, S., Hafekost et al., (2015). The mental health of children and adolescents: Report on the second Australian child and adolescent survey of mental health and wellbeing. 10. Liddle, S. K., Deane, F. P., Batterham, M., et al.,(2019). A brief sports-based mental health literacy program for adolescent males: A cluster-randomized controlled trial. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 1-39. 11. Breslin, G., Shannon, S., Haughey, T., et al. (2017). A systematic review of interventions to increase awareness of mental health and well-being in athletes, coaches and officials. Systematic reviews, 6(1), 177. 12. Bauman, N. J. (2016). The stigma of mental health in athletes: are mental toughness and mental health seen as contradictory in elite sport?. 13. Rogers, A., & Bickley, J. (2019). Wellbeing Performance and Applied Psychology Practice. Advanced Sports Medicine Winning, Wellbeing and Welfare – Mental Health in Sport Moving the UK forward together, London, 6th April 14. Bloom, S. L. (2010). Trauma-organized systems and parallel process. Managing trauma in the workplace—Supporting workers and the organisation, 139-153. 15. Henriksen, K., Schinke, R., Moesch, et al., (2019). Consensus statement on improving the mental health of high performance athletes. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 1-8.
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