When Peterhead FC's David Cox revealed recently he was suffering from depression and had tried to commit suicide on several occasions, there was the usual mixed response from the football community.
Some people commended the 25-year-old Balmoor player for highlighting an issue which still tends to be swept under the carpet. Others reacted in time-honoured fashion by asking what well-paid young sports stars had to be depressed about.
Yet the most positive aspect, both for Cox and the PFA Scotland's representative Stuart Lovell, was the proof that gradually, inexorably, old prejudices are being eroded and attitudes transformed. And both men are hoping that fresh illumination will be forthcoming when Cox is involved in a series of "Braveheart" athletic events at Peterhead FC this Sunday to raise funds for the Scottish Association of Mental Health.
They are well aware there are no panaceas available. For every Neil Lennon who has spoken articulately and intelligently about depression, there are antediluvian figures who think it can be sorted out with the words: "Pull yourself together".
As Lovell told The Herald: "It has been one of the taboo subjects, but David was brave enough to speak about it publicly and the best way to address these issues is to talk about them and remove any element of stigma which might be attached.
"I know from working with the PFA that there is never a time when we are NOT dealing with - and trying to help - somebody who is suffering from depression. I remember when [former Wales star and manager] Gary Speed took his own life that people were digging into his personal life and second-guessing why he had done it. They assumed there had to be an obvious reason, but sometimes there isn't one. I've seen that in talking with David: how he went from being in a good place to a very dark place without understanding why."
Cox admits he had difficulties in controlling his temper and was plagued by sudden mood swings, which propelled him from delight to despair. And he didn't mince his words in telling me he might not be alive today but for the intervention and assistance of Lovell and his manager at Peterhead, Jim McInally.
"In sport, there is still a stigma when it comes to mental health," said Cox. "A lot of people in the game think that because you are young and playing football for a living, you must have loads of cash and a party lifestyle.
"That couldn't be further from the truth for many folk. At my lowest ebb, I didn't see the point of anything, I didn't know what to tell my family and I just wanted to end it all.
"Eventually, I sat down and spoke to Stuart about everything that I had been going through and it was a massive weight off my shoulders. I realise now that I can't expect to get rid of my depression completely, but knowing how to cope with it better is a major step forward."
Lovell appreciates that the process is a work in progress. Sport remains one of the few environments where youngsters are routinely subjected to abuse from strangers, and while there have been increasing efforts to outlaw racist, sexist and homophobic insults, mental health is a more ambiguous area to police.
Nor does ignorance from managers help. "You had a situation not so long ago where [the former Aston Villa manager] John Gregory reacted to Stan Collymore saying he had depression by asking him what his problem was on £30,000 a week," said Lovell.
"He didn't seem to understand it had nothing to do with how much the player was earning and yet that is a fairly common response. We have to get the message across that depression is serious and that it affects many young people, but it also needs us to be open, to talk to them and show them that help and support are available. What it doesn't need is people in football pretending the issue doesn't exist. It does."
Cox, for his part, is making progress, both on and off the pitch, combining the role of player with personal trainer. And he is encouraging both Blue Toon supporters and the wider North-East public to get behind his St Andrew's Day initiative.
"Having mental health problems might still be a taboo subject, but it shouldn't be," said Cox. "The reaction I've had since I told people I was suffering from depression has been remarkable. It shows how many folk have been affected by it and also highlights how important it is not to bottle up your feelings when it seems that life isn't worth living."
He's not looking too far ahead. But there is something life-affirming about David Cox's desire to champion education over ignorance.
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