Jonathan Trott's stress illness

[Arthur Crabtree]

Maybe could add Bopara to that list.

I don't think anyone was saying that the events of this series caused Trott's problems by the way, just that that present circumstances might trigger an acute flare up. Unless I misunderstood.

[Arthur Crabtree]

I mean its strange that sportsmen are never seem to be gay.... never get depressed .... never struggle with much. Its purely macho BS, not an indication that it doesnt exist.

Just wondering, but you often hear that sportspeople can't be open about homosexuality, especially men, because of the culture of the sport they play. But I can't recall many instances of sportspeople coming out after they retire either. The people who do (Fashanu), are so famous for it because the examples seem to be so few.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Andy Flower is Big Brother.

Isn't that modern sport coaching? Manage all the small factors. This is the sort of thing you hear all modern coaches talk about.

Probably not that nice to be a part of. Apart from all that winning.

[sussexpob]

AN interesting angle I thought

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/co ... 92605.html

Kind of reminds me of Victoria Pendleton and the British Cycling. She said that her life was lonely and dark, and at times she has looked like an emotional wreck of a person.... she has a strong anxiety disorder and depression, and although the toll of David Brailsford's epic levels of 1984 style monitoring on everything in life may have destroyed her as a person, as an athlete it undoubtably helped her. Bradley Wiggins also became an alcoholic after winning three gold medals at Athens!!

Its food for thought, but are modern day techniques destroying athletes? I dont pay much creedance to this "but we organise trips to see hurt servicemen"... thats not downtime, or grounding, that is stressful in itself.

Maybe England would do better to give the boys a bit more beach and drinking time.... or let them have a KFC once in a while

[D/L]

So, domestic difficulties, partying and all sorts of other things that can disrupt the smooth flow of life, now come under the umbrella of a “stress related condition”.

I suppose most of us must suffer from one, then.

[Kim]

AN interesting angle I thought

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/co ... 92605.html

[Albondiga]

I have never suffered from stress to the point where it has become an illness and am grateful for that. Some people I know have told me that life becomes unbearable and every minor problem looms large in the mind. Those that lead a stressful existence (like high powered business people and top class sportsmen and women) appear to be on a treadmill worse than that where people perform a boring job. But it also depends on what type of individual you are. It appears more likely that David Gower would escape this illness than many others because of his laid back character but it cannot be said to be a certainty just because he is like that. These sportsmen and women now seem to be 'managed' all the time in what they do, eat and train (regular bedtimes, regular visits to the gym, regular coaching and analysis of performance etc); Years ago FS Trueman and Brian Statham were a fine opening pair of bowlers who learned their trade by bowling many overs in a first class season a well as net practice. There are many pictures of these two eating a sandwich for lunch as well as downing a pint of beer !!!!! Not for them were dieticians, regular bedtimes and analysis of performance and as far as going regularly to a gym is concerned I doubt whether Fred could spell gym let alone attend one. Players of that standard used to have a word with their mates to help them with their game. They seemed to be more relaxed but to be fair they did not have to travel and live out of a suitcase like the cricketers of today. Those days are gone but I think they may have been less stressful than today and I still have not seen a better English opening pair of bowlers.

I don't have any answers to this problem except that sportsmen and women may be better served by practising their skills in the nets occasionally and only really thinking about their game on the days they play. I hope Jonathan Trott recovers soon and is able to play cricket as this level again.

[sussexpob]

Those that lead a stressful existence (like high powered business people and top class sportsmen and women) appear to be on a treadmill worse than that where people perform a boring job. But it also depends on what type of individual you are. It appears more likely that David Gower would escape this illness than many others because of his laid back character but it cannot be said to be a certainty just because he is like that.

Pensive and non confrontational characters are more prone to stress related problems

[D/L]

...These sportsmen and women now seem to be 'managed' all the time in what they do, eat and train (regular bedtimes, regular visits to the gym, regular coaching and analysis of performance etc); Years ago FS Trueman and Brian Statham were a fine opening pair of bowlers who learned their trade by bowling many overs in a first class season a well as net practice. There are many pictures of these two eating a sandwich for lunch as well as downing a pint of beer !!!!! ...

Good points, well made, Albondiga. Before modern times, most players probably wouldn’t have submitted to the régimes we now see imposed. They wouldn’t consider they were being paid enough! Who could blame them?

If modern régimes are in some way responsible for a player occasionally submitting to a “stress related condition” then it is up to the authorities and players’ representatives to consider what they may do about it. However, if they deem the current methods to be vital for success, then little will change and there will probably always be the occasional casualty. Earlier intervention, though, may be an improvement that could be made.

Notwithstanding the hullabaloo over Trott, and to put it in some context, many will take the view that our cricketers enter the profession with their eyes wide open, that they are very well paid and that there are many far more stressful ways of earning a living.

[yuppie]

It is interesting to note what Trott now says he was suffering from any mental health illness.

Michael Vaughan has written a very interesting article about this in the age today. I rarely agree with Vaughen, but if what he says is true about Trott using words like Nutcase then trott has not chosen his words well.

I really hope the ECB and Trott have not used a very serious mental health issue as an excuse to protect a player who was exhausted, but was not suffering from what was claimed.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Is 'burnout' not a stress related illness?

[Arthur Crabtree]

While Trott's use of adjectives is regrettable, I'm not sure Trott's issues being triggered by exhaustion matters. It's still stress, and it still made him feel like he couldn't carry on. Bit surprised by MPV's strong words. IJLT has been having problems, it seems pointlessly cruel to put more pressure and scrutiny upon him.

[Durhamfootman]

Perhaps Trott is just playing down what happened in order to speed up his re-inclusion into the England side.

If so, it'll work, I reckon. England are likely to be pretty desperate atm, I would have thought

[Arthur Crabtree]

That first line did cross my mind too.

Not sure about the second point. England are in trouble. But they need to build a new side. Retaining Trott might have made sense, but bringing him back could feel counterproductive. Flower said only Cook has a place in the team. If all the players are interviewing for their own job, Trott doesn't seem well positioned.

[sussexpob]

Michael Vaughan has written a very interesting article about this in the age today. I rarely agree with Vaughen, but if what he says is true about Trott using words like Nutcase then trott has not chosen his words well.

I found Vaughan's "i know about this because I know people who had this" reasoning pretty lame and insulting, and the nature and position of his article as misinformed as they come. In the coming days I imagine he will have to step down from the pedestal and apologise for that.... then again, I doubt he will because the majority of the press have as little understanding of these issues as him.

While Trott's use of adjectives is regrettable, I'm not sure Trott's issues being triggered by exhaustion matters. It's still stress, and it still made him feel like he couldn't carry on. Bit surprised by MPV's strong words. IJLT has been having problems, it seems pointlessly cruel to put more pressure and scrutiny upon him.

and....

Perhaps Trott is just playing down what happened in order to speed up his re-inclusion into the England side.

I believe that Trott is playing down the issues slightly to speed up his reinclusion, I cant prove that, its my belief. I also believe that Trott may not understand exactly the nature of the problems he faced, it takes more than a few weeks in Barbados with the kids and a few weeks at home watching tv to make those conclusions.

He says for instance that he was not depressed, yet medical doctors are yet to purely identify whether or not burnout is any different from stress, or depression. In fact, many of the worlds great minds on the subject (ie not Michael Vaughan) believe that burnout has pretty much all the same symptoms and results, the cause is just easier to isolate and the remedy easier to formulate because burnout is caused by work stress.

The problem is, and I said this at the time this came out, stress is not anything in itself. Much like the aids virus, its not stress that destroys you, stress simply batters you mentally and physically and leaves you exposed to a whole list of other things. For this to have been a problem there must have been something accompanied with it, and in cases of burnout as I said, a lot of the mentality of someone with burnout will mirror that of a depressive.

One of the interesting points Trott made in a BBC radio interview to be aired tonight, which the BBC printed an extract from, and which I think higlights the last point very well, is that he compared batting in the last warm up game in Australia to be "playing inside a computer game".... it sounds a lot like he is mentioning depersonalisation, a very common symptom for anxiety or depression suffers.