Gary Speed: Mental health charity reaction

28th November 2011 - Tributes and condolences are being paid to Gary Speed, the Wales football manager who died at the weekend.

Paul Farmer, chief executive of the mental health charity, Mind, described the apparent suicide of Gary Speed as a tragic and shocking event. He said in a statement: "The high-pressure environment of top-level sport can cause huge levels of stress and, just because someone appears to be able to carry on their usual daily life, it does not mean that they are not struggling in private."

On Saturday Gary Speed appeared on TV. Presenter, Dan Walker, said on his blog: "I spent four hours with Gary Speed on Saturday. He was our guest on Football Focus and was in great form. I've met and interviewed him on many occasions. I always found him to be kind, funny, intelligent and insightful......When I got the news on Sunday morning I was stunned. I still can't get my head around it."

Seek help

Director of anti-stigma campaign Time to Change, Sue Baker said in a press statement: "We do not yet know the circumstances around the terrible tragedy of Gary Speed’s death but we want to encourage anyone experiencing similar levels of despair to try and speak to someone, whether friend, family or their doctor. In the past few days, fellow former footballer Stan Collymore has been tweeting openly and honestly about his own ongoing battle with depression.  We hope that everyone feels able to follow Collymore’s advice to seek help if they feel like this."

Paul Farmer said: "Gary Speed is not the first footballer to experience mental distress and nor, sadly, will he be the last. The suicide of German goalkeeper Robert Enke in 2009 shows that sportsmen, like anyone else, are not immune from the devastating effects of mental health problems.

"Each year, more than 4,000 people in England and Wales take their own lives and three quarters of suicides are by men. The macho culture of football means that we have seen very few professionals come forward to talk about mental health problems but it is only by speaking out about mental health, whether through the media or privately, that we can increase understanding and awareness of these issues, and encourage people to be able to seek the help that they need."

Hidden issue

Mind says one in four people experience a mental health problem every year but the media is failing to give mental health the attention it needs.

According to the results of a Mind survey released today 31% of people questioned were unable to name a character or TV personality with a mental health problem. Of those who could name someone, Stephen Fry, Mind's President, was most commonly identified.

The research also reveals that newspaper reporting is lagging behind television in the manner it covers the issues. While 89% of respondents considered TV documentaries to realistically represent mental health problems, only 59% said the same about newspaper coverage.
Similarly, fewer than half those questioned felt that newspapers were sympathetic in their treatment of mental health problems, compared to 73% for documentaries and 66% for TV News.