BY SEB MOTTRAM

As mental health issues continue to plague our society, the sports industry is slowly but steadily beginning to recognise the benefits of strong programs supporting the cause. 

Professional athletes are prone to poor mental health due to a constant performance pressure and their position in the public eye. 

However, the tough conversations supporting players’ mental wellbeing are beginning to occur in professional environments.

Lance Picioane, an ex-AFL player and founder of charity ‘Love Me Love You’, has become an advocate for fostering positive mental health changes in the community since his retirement in 2005. 

Now aged 40, Picioane was selected with pick 17 in the 1997 AFL draft, immediately placing expectations on his potential and therefore how good his career should be. His career spanned seven years across three clubs.

Despite his success at an elite level, he suffered from an undiagnosed mental illness throughout his career. This led him down a dark path, culminating in an attempt to end his life in 2011, six years after his retirement from football.

“There are definitely undiagnosed mental illnesses going through professional Australian sport,” Picioane said.

“But that’s a cultural thing that the AFL and others are starting to tackle, the fact that we can talk about these things.” 

During his time in the league, Picioane noted how only one club he spent time at employed a mental health professional.

“And the other clubs, they weren’t prepared at all. There wasn’t anyone qualified, it was just a person in a role,” he said. 

Clubs and leagues are only just beginning to take notice of the effect of mental health on performance, and the correlation between good mental health and good performances on the field. 

“We’ve come a long way, but there’s still a long way to go,” Picioane said. 

“[But clubs are beginning to realise] that it’s an investment in you, and therefore an investment in your performance.”

The greater focus on mental health in sport has led to businesses and charities like Picioane’s being established, as clubs look to work with different perspectives to personalise resources and programs for athletes.

“Those that invest outside of the box, are the ones that are actually performing better on-field or in-court and in their own lives,” Picioane said. 

A common theme exists in sporting leagues, such as the AFL, with athletes’ prominent positions in society making them easy targets for social media abuse. 

Richmond defender Dylan Grimes recently called out his abuse, after he said he received “death threats” via his Instagram account. 

Former Greater Western Sydney captain Callan Ward expressed his disappointment after he was subject to similar treatment. 

Ward chose to publicise the comments aimed at him because, while he has the capacity to block out the nasty comments, he believes many would not –  as he told SEN radio the following day. 

“There are people out there who probably would [listen to the comments]…There’s some players who couldn’t handle that.”

Ward’s view is backed by Picioane, who believes too many players use social media to search for positive reinforcement. 

“It really can be the angel or the devil [depending on performance],” Picioane believes. 

Social media has certainly played a major part in the concerning trend of footballers who have walked out on their careers due to mental health issues. 

Collingwood superstar Dayne Beams has likely played his last game in 2019 due to his well-documented issues with mental health.  

Western Bulldogs Premiership hero Tom Boyd also has a similar story to share.  

Since their careers came to a close, both have become huge advocates of starting a conversation about mental health, following in the footsteps of Picioane to ensure players do not endure what they did. 

The retirement of these players and their efforts to start the tough conversations have had a positive effect, paving the way to address mental health issues in sport. 

These issues are now a commonly accepted reason for time off from the game, without a negative stigma attached to it. 

“We need to be able to normalise that very conversation to say, ‘I’m a bit off today’ or ‘I’m bit off at the moment’,” Picioane said. 

In a bid to normalise conversations around mental health, Picioane began to research how that could be done and the charity, ‘Love Me Love You’ was born. 

The charity emerged 14 months after he attempted to take his own life. 

“I had first conversations when I was in my recovery phase, and I thought, there’s more to my life than what I’m doing,” Picioane said.  

“We deliver programs right through from youth, to corporate and to people in their 80s. Because, as we know, this conversation around mental health and suicide prevention is, is needed everywhere in life.”