'Good to see players having courage to talk about mental health'

Former India captain Rahul Dravid has praised modernday players for coming out in open and talking about mental healthMental health has been an issue in sport and in cricket and its been heartening to see the discussion around mental health over the past decade or so Its good to see many players having the courage to talk about these issues Dravid said while speaking in the first session of Mind Body and Soul a platform brought forward by The Royal Rajasthan Foundation in association with NS Vahia Foundation amp McLean Hospital Harvard Medical School AffiliateSport and cricket can be tough and it is a highpressure environment out there and some of these players are constantly in that highpressure environment In the past theres probably been a sort of stigma associated with talking about your frailties admitting that you have a problemIn the olden days maybe people didnt know how to react to it but with players coming out now there is more positive discussion around mental health in sport especially cricket I feel we must applaud all these modernday players whove come out and talked about mental health openly and have brought about a positive discussion around the same he addedStating an example from his life Dravid narrated I think there were many periods in my career that were mentally challenging Although for me Id say that as a young cricketer I made a debut at the age of 17 and it took me about five years of firstclass cricket to make it to the Indian teamIt was a really challenging period because you sort of have your entire life in front of you and youre committing to a very risky profession of being a cricketer If you dont succeed professionally or dont play long enough for India at least at that point of time it wasnt a very lucrative way to make a living You just had to be successful to make a decent livingAt the same time youre at the university and are grappling with those decisions to play professional sport which requires a lot of hard work and sacrifice to succeed its not easyFor me that was mentally a very difficult period of making those decisions I did go to university and complete my education and I think doing that and having something other than cricket to do at that point really helped he addedTalking about how the situation these days is much better where there are professionals available for sportspersons who they can approach freely Dravid said Now were seeing more focus on the mental wellbeing of players Not related to whether they can bat well or bowl well but just for their mental wellbeingThe role of the sports psychologists is to mentally prepare you for better onfield performances I think what were seeing now is more interest around mental wellbeing of people not necessarily on field but also off the field how it affects affects you as a person in life That in turn helps you perform better on the fieldAt the NCA what weve tried to do especially with our younger players is that we have sports psychologists around for the camp just to give the players an opportunity to connect with themExposing them to different things both on and off the field and for them to share thoughts with someone and take it forward if they want to I think in a team environment its better to do it on an individual basis than in front of a team that in my opinion works betterI think its different from motivational talk to a team if you really want a player to better deal with situations you need to provide that access to them on individual basis where they can have a oneonone basis discussion and get better guidanceThe session saw Dravid join Rajasthan Royals Head Physiotherapist John Gloster Dr Ipsit Vahia and Dr Lisa CoyneDuring the session Dr Coyne stressed upon how mental disorder is a common phenomenon to occur and adolescence is largely where it startsThe WHO estimates that one in four individuals in the course of their lifetime will experience a meaningful mental health disorder This is not a rare thing something ubiquitousFor adults who experience mental health disorder the vast majority of these begin in adolescence or young adulthood So if youre in a position to identify struggling mental health conditions in young athletes its really important to interveneThere is so much stigma around mental health that it is important for athletes to speak out about their struggles for kids to learn It is admirable what Dravid has done because he is an incredible role model and this will create a voice and make space for young athletes to address these issuesWhen we talk about mental health and support psychological wellbeing we talk about emotional agility What that is doing something youre really passionate about and really care about and want to excel at and love even when youre feeling depressed or are in anxiety or stress Doing that is going to lead something really good for everyone said CoyneTalking about the present situation where everyones life seems to have paused with the pandemic Dr Vahia said the meaning of the old greeting has changedI dont think weve dealt with something quite like this before and to be honest we dont know what its going to be like in the future Weve had events previously like wars which have impacted us but none quite like this which has impacted everyone Theres been the illness and then the economic factors she saidIn situations like this its important to realise that there may not be much we can control and it is very difficult to predict the future The healthiest thing we can do is to stay in the here for now and not fall into the trap of looking at things as to how they were and importantly not worrying about what Im doing to do in months or years from nowThe greeting of How are you has changed it used to be a ceremonial greeting but now its different as none of us is ok as we used to be However acknowledging that is important she addedCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates hereAlso download the new midday Android and iOS apps 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