‘You shut up and go along with it’: an interpretative phenomenological study of former professional footballers’ experiences of addiction

Abstract

Research evidence suggests that professional players across a variety of sports may be at greater risk of developing addictions and other mental illnesses than the general population, both during and post-career. In this paper, we report findings from a larger project on the experiences of career transition in UK professional footballers that provide some insight into this. Using an Interpretative Phenomenological approach, four ex-professional footballers who were attending the Sporting Chance Clinic for help with problems concerning alcohol and gambling were interviewed in depth about their experiences. Focussing on issues the players perceived to be relevant to their addictions, the data were analysed thematically, drawing on Van Manen's phenomenological method, and individual case histories were also produced. The analysis suggested that club culture was key to understanding the players' difficulties; a harsh, unsupportive psychological environment combined with expectations of manliness resulted in a culture of silence in the face of personal difficulties. Relationships within the culture of profootball were fraught with anxiety and distrust, leaving the players feeling unable and unwilling to disclose their problems and feeling used and unvalued by their managers. The lack of supportive relationships in their clubs also resulted in loneliness and social withdrawal for the 2 participants. We conclude with a number of recommendations for the governing bodies in professional football, clubs and individual players.

Constructions of athlete mental health post-retirement: a discursive analysis of stigmatising and legitimising versions of transition distress in the Australian broadcast media

“…Therefore, the production of the biomedical discourse for post-retirement mental health may function to remove agency and blame from the individual athletes and potentially legitimise their individual experiences of depression. However, this construction fails to draw attention to the contextual issues and sporting-related stressors that may render retiring (and playing) athletes vulnerable to mental health symptoms during careers (Brownrigg et al, 2017;Rice et al, 2016;Souter et al, 2018) and into retirement (Park et al, 2013). Yet, a range of sport-related factors have been implicated in the development of addiction post-retirement (Brownrigg et al, 2017).…”

“…However, this construction fails to draw attention to the contextual issues and sporting-related stressors that may render retiring (and playing) athletes vulnerable to mental health symptoms during careers (Brownrigg et al, 2017;Rice et al, 2016;Souter et al, 2018) and into retirement (Park et al, 2013). Yet, a range of sport-related factors have been implicated in the development of addiction post-retirement (Brownrigg et al, 2017). Specifically, the culture of elite sport, including relationships within sport settings and associated loneliness, and an unsupportive environment of sport were reported to be central to onset of addiction.…”

“…This construction also countered the biomedical discourse by bringing the context, at least partially, into view (e.g., limited support from sporting bodies including dual career development). Yet within this construction, retirement is presented as the stressor that inevitably leads to mental health disorders, rather than the broader range of sporting factors that may contribute to these outcomes (see Brownrigg et al, 2017;Park et al, 2013;Rice et al, 2016;Souter et al, 2018). The circumstances surrounding retirement, such as voluntary or forced retirements, can also have implications in terms of outcomes (Park et al, 2013), and certain retirements are culturally privileged and thus easier to enact than others .…”

International society of sport psychology position stand: mental health through occupational health and safety in high performance sport

“…A growing body of evidence also highlights the increased risk for athletes of experiencing distress and depression following concussion (Kilic et al, 2019). Relationships within sport, including team dynamics (Fletcher & Wagstaff, 2009), coaching expectations and climate (Pensgaard & Roberts, 2000), loneliness, and unsupportive social environments (Brownrigg et al, 2017) also contribute to the development of psychological disorders among athletes.…”

Behind the mask: demedicalising race and mental health in professional football

“…Together with colleagues, Brownrigg, 3 an ex-professional footballer, has used an interpretative, phenomenological, analytical method to explore the unmedicalised voices of professional footballers. This approach is a challenge to the sports psychiatry model that tends to deny complex transcultural issues facing Black players, using instead an oversimplified, categorical, symptom-driven, diagnostic approach.…”