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Leighton Baines Speaks On Mental Health In Football

Leighton Baines Speaks On Mental Health In Football

Leighton Baines speaks about how athletes can get affected, too.

Jacque Talbot

Jacque Talbot

Leighton Baines has spoken about mental health in a brave new interview with the Mind Map via SPORTbible.

Discussions surrounding mental health issues in sport have grown - but there's some way to go. There is still the misconception, for instance, that successful athletes are not susceptible to such problems.

Actually, mental health issues can affect everyone, even the likes of professional footballers.

And here, former England international Baines speaks about his personal battle of being on the sideline with a lengthy injury, and how the perception of an athletes' lifestyle is often misplaced.

The Mind Map

By constantly living under spotlight, sports stars that decide to seek help will come under national attention. This can make inaction the easiest course to take for them.

And as the Everton footballer tells BBC sports journalist Giulia Bould, the more sporting idols open up about mental health, the more stigma surrounding the illness is removed.

Baines says: "I think we are getting there and hopefully things will continue to improve.

"The people that do come out and show those vulnerabilities, they will encourage other people - even though they don't want to talk about - to feel consoled. We look into these people's lives that almost look perfect, but it's not the case.

"No one's life is perfect - everybody is dealing with something. Some people's problems or issues might be bigger than others', but everyone's got to deal with what's on their plate. I think it's about finding the right tools, whether that's somebody you can talk to or looking at other methods."

You can watch the video of Baines' interview below here:

You can find more information below here:

The Mind Map (www.themindmap.co.uk) normalise mental health through their online magazine content and events and help young people navigate towards mental health services through their free service directory. They also provide Mental Health First Aid training.

You can support The Mind Map to train teachers in Youth Mental Health First Aid via their Crowdfunder here: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/the-mind-map

SPORTbible's campaign More Than A Game tells the stories about football and its power beyond the pitch. Find out more here.

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Topics: Mental Health, Everton