Aaron Lennon

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It's worth pointing out that mental health issues can be circumstantial, or clinical.

If there is a trigger, health, or environmental cause, then you can overcome it on a permanent basis - this could be a bad relationship, your living circumstances, or just the "way things are going".

Clinical depression is a bit different - it's something either you're born with, or develop over time. There may not be a logical reason for what you're feeling, and you could be a billionaire with the life of larry, yet you feel like you can't cope. You don't ever 'cure' things like that imo, you just 'treat' it - whether it is with methods of learning how to cope with it, ignore it, or otherwise use medicinal treatments.

So some people do recover, whereas many don't.

Depression is made a mockery of in the same way that Influenza is (i.e. 'the flu') - too many people use it as a term to describe their own attention seeking or general low mood, which desensitises the public perception of what depression is, and what recovery is.


It's well known that mental health in football is completely neglected, so I hope both Aaron begins to recover and that it raises awareness towards depression, and starts to dispel the notion of "how can a rich footballer be depressed?".
 
Stress breaks are horrible - you pretty much lose control over your emotions, performance levels drop, which then piles on more pressure etc. Generally speaking you don't get over it, but you do learn to manage it and learn to spot the warning signs. I've suffered from work related stress myself, and know people with anxiety and depression who rely on daily medication just to keep on an even level.

I always liked Azza, and despite being a bit patchy with his attacking form he always put in a shift and tracked back better than 90% of wingers I've seen. No doubt he'll get all the good support money can buy, and hopefully plenty of support than money can't buy from the public.
 
As a therapist myself, and also as someone who has suffered (more than) a fair share of mental health problems, it's an interesting question about recovery. One that, after more than three years doing this job, I'm still not sure about.

IME some people do make a full recovery, some don't. The severity of the problem will clearly influence that, though some people do escape even the most severe depression. Age is also a factor. The younger you are the more likely you are to change, and the quicker change will be. Remember the brain keeps growing until you're 25. The more hardwired your responses are, the harder they are to change- though even an old person has some degree of neuroplasticity (the ability for neurons to make new connections).

But I think within everyone, or almost everyone, there is the scope for at least a considerable degree of recovery. I think it often tends to go in waves, in that you might be good for a number of years, but then have bad periods again...if it's a severe condition then there will probably always be the possibility of a relapse.

"There's only one Aaron Lennon"- hope he gets the help he needs.
 
I remember when he was about 16 or 17 and the first time I had seen him play for us. May well have actually been against Leeds. I remember a 70 yard cross field pass which he took on ythe outside of his boot and lobbed the opponent in one hit.

Played football like a proper Spurs player
 
At one stage, he was the one that completely gave us balance. Always liked him, remember his debut against Chelsea, when we were down to 10 men as Mido had got sent off. He was like a little bolt of lightning, bombing down the wing. I hope he gets better as quickly as possible and he gets the treatment and support he needs.
 
Never know whats going on behind the scenes, such as gambling or other addictions. Football is still a macho culture - sadly it can take a breakdown before players reach for help and open up about their vulnerabilities.
 
WookieD said:
One of my closest friends. Becoming a family man is what did for him.
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No offence, but your friend may think he's out of it but it may simply be that he has something positive to concentrate on. Doesn't mean he's out of the woods. I started suffering with anxiety and depression before I got hitched. While I was in the relationship I was mostly happy and functioning well. But it was always there under the surface and it came back with a vengeance when we split. Depression loves a vacuum and it loves a repetitious life.
 
Samisspurs said:
Never know whats going on behind the scenes, such as gambling or other addictions. Football is still a macho culture - sadly it can take a breakdown before players reach for help and open up about their vulnerabilities.
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The gambling industry is a fucking cancer. Apparently Rooney squandered half a million the other night in a casino. It doesn't matter how much these players are paid, you can lose it all in 6 months, especially if you are depressed after your career has ended. The gambling industry has deliberately targeted footballers knowing this.
 
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