Torquay United Fans Forum

Mahrez starts tonight bless him. Done really well to have overcome serious mental illness in the space of a few weeks the poor lad. Hopefully he can get his blighted life back on track now by playing well enough to secure a big money move in the summer, a key cause of his 'depressive illness' in the first place.

Totally the wrong end of the stick once again.

My assumptions are my assumptions and got sod all with whether you give a stuff about them or not. I didn't ask whether you agreed but just that they were my assumptions. But like i said. Totally the wrong end of the stick.

Many of my (tl;dr) postings on here are trying to highlight mental health issues and promote the fact that it's ok to talk about them and i've been doing this for some time so to call someone judgemental and be dismissive about mental illness when you've just done exactly the same with your last sentence is hypocrisy is it not?

With the greatest of respect, I don't give a stuff for your assumptions. You cannot possibly know what triggers mental illness in any other human being. No-one, with any certainty can.

I have no idea about Mahrez one way or the other, but I can tell you - and with great certainty - that your notion about a gradual onset of mental illness is not accurate.

Plus, how then, would you explain something like PTSD. By its very nature, that doesn't creep up gradually. Or would you consider PTSD not an issue of mental wellness?

I'm surprised you're so judgemental, given the (many tl;dr) general thrust of a lot of your postings on here.

Mahrez 'went missing' upon learning that he wasn't going anywhere in the transfer window. The onset of true depression / mental illness isn't as rapid as this and nor is it brutally exposed in one single 'trigger' event. I would suggest that he isn't depressed but just bitter about the situation. Of course it is possible that he could have been suffering from dperession for quite some time and we didn't know about it but for such a high profile figure signs would have been apparent. I know only too well from personal experience how well people with depression can cover up and hide their symptoms but i'd imagine if he's been ill for some time in such a publicly demanding role then he's done an amazing job of keeping it under wraps.

So at the moment my initial assumptions are that he's got the hump because he can't get his own way but of course, i could be wrong.

He's a high profile, professional footballer earning multi millions each year. He has to expect that intrusion goes with the territory. His ability to deal with this up to now has been fine, at least on the outside but we don't know what goes on behind closed doors obviously. If he is genuinely depressed about being in the public eye and being criticised then perhaps he might give up his millions and his career and choose something more less high profile?

We will see what happens.

There is the help out there if he wants it and i hope he is able to find inner peace of mind should it be this horrible illness he is going through.

Naturally i am hoping it DOES just turn out to be a case of another spoilt footballer and not depression. I'm sure Riyadh would be hoping this too.

Yorkieandy wrote: 07 Feb 2018, 10:31
Billy Kee. Ordinary bloke trying to make a living, always gives it his best and suffering from a genuine crisis of mental health.

Riyadh Mahrez. Greedy and selfish.

I don't think you can be so dismissive of Mahrez. How would you like your whole life laid bare for everyone to feel free to sift through and comment on? I don't doubt he's upset, and perhaps regrets the way things have gone (although, I suspect, he will have his agent to thank for most of it). Cash and the skill that makes a guy good enough to be a premiership player does not immunise a person against depression or other mental health issues. When all's said and done, he's just a bloke.

It was not the treatment of Billy Kee I was referring too. It was the club's treatment of another who was suffering from the same illness. He was sacked by phone I believe.

JakeJason wrote: 07 Feb 2018, 12:51 . Mental health issues rarely get the recognition they deserve. If karma is to be believed then maybe we are paying for treating a past sufferer in such an appalling way.

Ok good as this poster above seems to think we have fault as a club ?? That's totally ignorant without any foundation.

Good luck Billy and I applaud the honesty. I've not seen the interview yet but will make the time when at home.
Have had issues in my life , although now live a life with happiness , understand these illness can make life so very hard and a daily grind.

Good post yorkie

He was very impressive in his first pre-season, something crazy like nine goals. Then when it came to the season itself he really struggled to hit the back of the net. Decent player but like many we didn't see his best.

westyorkshiregull wrote: 07 Feb 2018, 17:42 How did we treat him when he was here ?

Fine i think. Rene Howe kept him out of the side eventually which is understandable. I remember he became pre-occupied with a move back oop norf to be closer to his family and he did get that in the end but went about it in the right way. Top pro.

How did we treat him when he was here ?

. Mental health issues rarely get the recognition they deserve. If karma is to be believed then maybe we are paying for treating a past sufferer in such an appalling way.

Has talked candidly about his battle with anxiety, depression and more interestingly from my perspective about being diagnosed as bi-polar. Sorry i don't have a link but the interview is on the BBC Sport Football website.

The anxiety and bi-polar aspects are interesting as we rarely hear of footballers suffering from these things. It's almost exclusively depression or so it seems. I think when you mention you suffer from depression people can understand this but when you have an anxiety disorder / OCD / bi polar / autism (which is a neurological difference and not an illness) then people will judge you as they don't understand the individual conditions.

I think it's groundbreaking that Billy has admitted to having bi polar publicly. He must be the first footballer to openly admit it surely? Chris Kirkland, the ex Sheff Wednesday and England 'keeper did a piece last year about his difficulties playing with an anxiety disorder but it seems that players with this, or players prepared to reveal they struggle with this are few and far between (thank goodness).

I loved Billy when he was at Torquay. A real pocket rocket with a hell of a shot on him although i've just checked his record and it says he only scored 9 goals in 44 appearances for the Gulls which surprised me. Thought he had got more than that. He scored 39 in 99 for Burton and 43 in 108 for Accy.

Best of luck to him and although it's a tragedy that another footballer is struggling with mental illness, it's another voice to add to highlight the increasing problem and a problem that the NHS will be swamped with in a few years time due to services in this area being decimated.

Mental illness is on the increase at an alarming rate yet services for mental health care and support are non existent in many areas of the UK.

Ticking timebomb i'm afraid based on the Government's reasoning of 'if you can't physically see the illness then it's not important to deal with and can't be that bad'.

Meanwhile over at Leicester, Riyadh Mahrez claims to be in a 'fragile state of mind' due to not being able to get his own way.

Maybe he's depressed? Somehow i doubt it.

Billy Kee. Ordinary bloke trying to make a living, always gives it his best and suffering from a genuine crisis of mental health.

Riyadh Mahrez. Greedy and selfish.