Freddie Flintoff Documentary on Depression

[Flea]

Did anyone see this last night?

[Sweetpea]

Yes I watched it today, recorded it.   I was surprised had no idea the sportsmen he spoke to had suffered.

S x

[Glen53]

They dont have the options we do. If they went to the docs with depression it would likely be all over the news in hours effectively ending their career.

I would not feel as sorry for footballers - they get paid enough to retire after a few years, but the lesser paid but well watched sportsmen and women have it tough in this respect.

Must have taken a brave man to be so frank on camera about it though, especially with his fame. My heart really went out to him.

[doublep]

What channel was this on?

[Zaf]

BBC2 I think

Yes I watched it, it was interesting and one of my main thoughts were how similar all their symptoms were so very familiar and as Glen said they were brave to go on camera to talk about it.  I did think, however, it was a slightly missed opportunity to emphasise to the general public that there is no shame having menal illness and how many ordinary people struggle with it

[doublep]

Awesome, will catch it on my ondemand thingy, I never watch TV and always miss things I'd be interested in.

[Sweetpea]

One thing I have always wanted to ask is do you think its harder for you guys (meaning men) to admit you have a problem.  Hope no one minds me asking just interested. Men are always seen as the strong ones in society and I just think it must be so hard for them to admit.  Its hard enough for us ladies.

S x 

[doublep]

One thing I have always wanted to ask is do you think its harder for you guys (meaning men) to admit you have a problem.  Hope no one minds me asking just interested. Men are always seen as the strong ones in society and I just think it must be so hard for them to admit.  Its hard enough for us ladies.

S x 

I suppose it is hard, but I don't think its harder.
But without sounding funny... it does seem the media portray women as having depression a normal thing, not so much with men.

The only reason my family knows if because my friend was worried about me and spoke to my Mum, and the only reason why my friend knows is because she saw 2 meltdowns in a week and dragged me to the Doctors.

If it werent for that, nobody would have known.  I never wanted to admit I had a problem and just got on with things.

I still find it hard to open up, not so much on here.. but face to face, I'd rather keep it bottled in.

I never wanted my Mum to know because I wanted to be "strong" for her and my brother, now I just feel weak.

[Glen53]

As doublep says, I dont think its harder for us as such.

There are exceptions i think though for ALL of us. If a person surrounds themselves with that kind of environment it may be a bit tougher for them to admit their feelings. Soldiers? Celebs? In these environments it may damage the career prospects if they admit such things. In this respect it could seem we have it tougher as a lot of these jobs are dominated by men mostly.

I think the days of 'us and them' are truly over though imo, but some men seem to be stuck in a childish sort of image. If men want to keep up this macho rubbish in todays world i think its a bit sad. Women are more than equal now in pretty much every respect (as they always should have been) and most can see through it and are not amused. I dont think that denying your true feelings to fit an image is a sensible thing to do. In that respect I think some men dont do themselves any favours.

[Holykimura]

One thing I have always wanted to ask is do you think its harder for you guys (meaning men) to admit you have a problem.  Hope no one minds me asking just interested. Men are always seen as the strong ones in society and I just think it must be so hard for them to admit.  Its hard enough for us ladies.

S x 

I watched the programme and I was surprised that their were so many with depression. However like don't think they made it sound convincing enough that it was ok for men to have mental health problems.
I think it is difficult for us men to confide in other men/friends for risk of being judged as weak. I think some men tend to ignore that they may have a problem and many turn to drink as a solution. This was definitely the case with me. One day I decided that I wanted to stop drinking to get healthier. Within 3 months I was diagnosed with depression. The drinking was probably my way of quashing any feelings of having a problem. When I talk to other men about my depression I feel embarrassed to be judged as weak. Nobody can understand depression unless they have had it or are a specialist.

[doublep]

The only men to understand me are ones that have had it.

But I'm friends with more women than men, so its not too bad for me to come out, but then I tend to scare them

[chilliconcarnage]

Just watched it on i-player. I thought it was quite good.

[Desperado99]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b019gbpk/Freddie_Flintoff_Hidden_Side_of_Sport/

there's the link to it on iplayer if anyone wants it.

I 'enjoyed' it for want of a better word......... although I thought piers morgan was a wally (no change there, then). I found it interesting, and it's nice to know that there are other people out there going through it.

[doublep]

I will get watching it tonight through my Virgin box thingy that I never use 

[Sweetpea]

Thanx for the replies, didn't want to offend anyone, I agree things these day are pretty much equal for men and women. Just wondered if it was harder for you guys than us to talk about it.  I know there is still a stigma about mental illness and people just don't understand things that they can't see.  I don't think its easy for anyone to admit and it took me a long time the first time I suffered to know what was wrong with me, as people are not open about it.  I often look round the surgery waiting room when I have an appointment with my gp and think 'how many people are feeling like I do?'  Lots probably and we just don't know it.  My gp said he had referred 5 people in 3 days to the nhs waiting list for counselling.  And that is just one gp at our surgery, that is quite a scarey statistic.

S x