PFAI Player Executive Ollie Cahill is encouraged by the growing number of soccer players in Ireland who are taking steps to confront and address mental health issues.
Cahill, who deals with player welfare in his role with the PFAI, believes that there’s an increasing awareness around the importance of mental health among players.
Speaking on the Soccer Republic Extra podcast, Cahill revealed that there has been an uptake in players seeking assistance from the PFAI in recent times, and that a culture of silence is slowly being broken down.
"We have a fair few players that have used those services in the last two or three years," he said. "There are plenty of awareness campaigns around these days.
"The dressing room, with male bravado the way it is, players don’t want to admit a weakness. They might feel it’s a weakness but it’s actually a strength to come out and admit you’re struggling with some addiction or it could be depression."
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Cahill did admit that some players still see a stigma around dealing with addiction or mental issues and fear that it could harm their career prospects in some way.
"They come to us and there’s help there for them. The majority of guys don’t publicise it because they think it’ll stick with them, and when their contract runs out another club won’t want to sign them because they’ve had a mental health issue or something like.
"When they retire they might come out and say ‘I’ve struggled with X, Y and Z and this is the help I got.
"We just try to make the players aware that the services are there for them. Anyone that comes forward can come to us first and we just pass them on to the professional in that area and it’s all totally private and confidential.
"Some of the players that have gone through it and come out the other side of it, the feedback has been life changing and they should have done it earlier. No-one should be suffering alone with it."
Cahill also believes that a ‘betting culture’ in Ireland has led to problems for many footballers and warned that it’s an issue that can often escalate quickly.
However he also revealed that the PFAI have seen ‘a fair few’ success stories when it comes to getting players the help they need with problem gambling.
"Gambling is one of them," he said. "Lots of guys when they turn professional footballers, have a lot of time on their hands.
"There’s a betting culture in this country as well and in the afternoons guys end up sitting in the bookies and having a few bets. It might be small bets but it turns into something bigger and you’re chasing then, it’s a vicious circle.
"We’ve had a fair few guys come forward with those issues but they’ve got the help they needed and are on the road to recovery.
"It’s a difficult area for guys to admit they have issues in and with the stuff that’s been around the league in the last couple of years around the betting issues, players just need to tread carefully."
