Mental health & ‘the power’ of attending live football.

[Colin C No.3]

(Apologies. Could someone with more nouse than me please move this into ‘Off Topic’? Thanks)

One of the books I was bought this Christmas was Bob Mortimers autobiography ‘And Away….’

I’ve been watching & enjoying the fishing series on tv he’s in with Paul Whitehouse, realised he possibly was a ‘complex personality’ & so have started to read it.

As gleaned from the tv series, he led an insular childhood, was a fair footballer (played for Middlesbrough Boys U16’s), went to Brighton University where he gained a Law Degree & where he first started with depression. His doctor prescribed antidepressants which he took for the next 5 years.

After University he returned to Middlesbrough, back to live with his mum, back with his pals drinking in the local, but the ‘black cloud’ hung over him still.

He got a job on the bins & life trundled on. He accepted that ‘the old’ Bob Mortimer would never return, he stopped taking the pills & then one Saturday at a Middlesbrough FC match he did.

I’ll quote directly from his book now because this passage gave me the ‘best insight’ into depression I’ve ever had.

‘One of the worst things about depression is that it steals away the pleasure you get from ordinary life - your breakfast, reading the newspaper, watching the TV, playing a game of pool in the pub, talking nonsense with your friends, going to the cinema, stroking your cat, having chicken-in-a-basket at a country pub, going for a walk in the Cleveland Hills, kicking a football around, mowing the lawn, drinking a pint, eating a hot dog etc., etc. You know, the things that make our little worlds go round. I still did all of these things, but each & every one of them was a cruel reminder of happier times.

One thing that has always given me the greatest of pleasure was going to Ayresome Park to watch my beloved Borough. I would never miss a home match & often travelled away to support them. It was the same ritual every week: meet up with Cags & Harry in the Yellow Rose Pub, walk to the match full of hope & anticipation. Throw a half-eaten Newboulds pie at the opposition goalkeeper, sway & sing in support of the team & then rush home for the results of the other days matches, feeling either elated or crushed.

As a kid, whenever Boro scored, I would experience the purest joy-immediate, visceral & all-consuming. Not anymore. Yes, I went through the motions jumping & screaming with joy along with everyone else, but inside I was indifferent.

This particular Saturday I was stood in the Holgate End when Boro
scored. I celebrated instantly & without restraint.
When the noise died down, a flotilla of butterflies exploded in my stomach. I had experienced a rush of unbridled joy for the first time in years. Robert Mortimer was back. I could be happy again. I bowed my head to hide my tears of happiness from Cagsy & Harry. They would never know what had just happened, that I had had an invisible moment of breakthrough.

So often I had asked myself if I would ever be happy again & how I would even know if I had retrieved my old self.
Well, here was my answer. I am so grateful to my old self for persevering with his support for this club so that I would have a barometer by which to judge my mental well-being.
If you have ever suffered from depression, you will know exactly what I mean by that. It was yet another Big Day to add to the pot.’

It would be crass of me now to say something along the lines of never give in to those who have & are suffering from depression or any form of anxiety or mental illness. I only wish that Bob Mortimer’s experience can at least give you a glimmer hope.

[River Don]

The tears of a clown. Depression and comedy isn't such an unusual combination. Spike Milligan, Tony Hancock, Larry David, Kenneth Williams and Robin Williams are some comics I can think of who suffered like this.

[scawsby steve]

I've suffered from anxiety based depression all of my life, and anti-depressants have never worked for me. The only thing that gives me temporary relief is Diazepam, but that can't be taken too regularly as it can become addictive.

Walking in the countryside in Summer is therapeutic, but Winter depresses the hell out of me.

I don't think the world we live in now is conducive to anyone with depression problems.

[rich1471]

I’ve been watching & enjoying the fishing series on tv he’s in with Paul Whitehouse,me and my wife have been watching it ,it's really is good but he does get mad when winds the real and shouts stop winding

[BillyStubbsTears]

Gone fishing is a beautifully gentle programme.

[turnbull for england]

Bought the wife tickets to see them tour the show next year for Christmas, never been in good books for as long , it's a great show