Depression on the rise among country football players

A follow-up survey of country footballers has found depression and anxiety levels had continued to rise, although their overall levels remained lower than non-players.

The Get Around Me report, carried out in 2020 by Country Football WA (CFWA) and The University of Western Australia found 14.5 per cent of those who did not play football said their mental health was “worse than last year” compared to 1.5 per cent of football players.

Following the key recommendation from the first report, CFWA and UWA ran a follow-up survey as a “health-check” of country players in 2021, culminating in the Get Around Me 2.0 report, finalised in July this year.

The report found a 30 per cent increase in both depression and anxiety levels in football players in 2021 compared to 2020.

Professor Sean Hood, Head of Psychiatry at UWA Medical School and member of the research leadership team, said the report found some groups’ mental health benefited from playing football, including female and Indigenous players.

“Going forward we are working with Country Football WA to specifically target vulnerable groups and regions with ongoing community-based mental health interventions,” Professor Hood said.

Female respondents’ depression and anxiety levels were 44 per cent higher than men, and 18-to-21 year-olds reported the highest scores in comparison to other age brackets.

The Pilbara recorded the highest anxiety score by region and was 24 per cent higher than the second-highest region.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander anxiety scores were 32 per cent higher than non-Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders.

Tom Bottrell, Executive Manager Country Football, said CFWA was continuing to implement strategies to raise awareness around mental health.

“We have expanded our Country Football Community Advisory Panel to include expertise from the National Drug Research Institute, Holyoake and Aboriginal mental health specialists,” Mr Bottrell said. “We look forward to working with the CFCAP to action report recommendations.”

The release of the report coincided with the launch of the WA Footy Wellbeing Hub, which aims to provide information and resources to players on how to maintain mental health and wellbeing and where to go to get help when needed.