Mental health can be a difficult issue for Players says Wenger

The Arsenal manager says that the culture of football can play a part in players being reluctant to admit they’re suffering from mental health issues. This is as men are expected to ‘strong’ and meet their problems head on and not deal with these sorts of issues.

This has caused a discussion this week after it was reported that Everton’s winger Aaron Lennon had been detained under the mental health act earlier in the week.

The Frenchman was asked about the situation at his press conference today, where he hinted that such stigma around this subject makes it hard for players to come to their clubs for help. This has come to light this week due to shameful articles coming from both the Daily Mail and Mirror, suggesting because of his salary the player shouldn’t be affected by any mental health issues.

This is what he had to say about the help that the players receive:

We help on the mental front the players that want help. It is difficult for the players when they do not meet their needs, and like all of us, they are frustrated and suffer from self-esteem [issues] in some situations. The expectation levels around them are very high; their families, agents, the pressure on them is very big and it is not easy to deal with that at a young age so, when needed, we help them.