- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Ever since the news came through that Garry Lyon would be stepping away from his media duties indefinitely due to a mental health condition, one hasn’t needed to travel far in order to find wild speculation.
That’s the nature of the football media landscape these days, where even a man like Lyon, whose playing days ended before this millenium began, comes under intense media scrutiny as soon as the hint of a scandal appears.
These days media, both traditional and social, are quick to first inflate the nature of any potential offence and then condemn the accused, as Dustin Martin found out not that long ago.
In accepting the career of being an AFL footballer, and subsequent positions in the media, a person must also tacitly accept that they will be a much greater object of public curiosity than the average.
It’s not ideal, but it comes with the territory – a high-paying job and the chance for positive media exposure balances out the other end of the deal.
However, this curiosity should extend to one thing only: football. Beyond that, the private lives of players past and present ought to be just that, private.
If Garry Lyon – no longer even a player, though still a prominent media figure – is battling a mental illness, it is in no way the business of the public to spin speculation or cast judgement upon him.
Unfortunately that is exactly what is happening, particularly after yesterday’s reports that Lyon had a relationship with the ex-wife of close friend and fellow Footy Show performer Billy Brownless, which led to a recent falling out between the two.
Many have since taken it upon themselves to connect the dots and speculate about how this might be linked to Lyon’s mental health condition, such as Fairfax writer David Prestipino.
it seems any celebrity embroiled in scandal has a mental illness of some sort these days
— david prestipino (@winestein32) February 14, 2016
But what is missing when someone makes this kind of speculation is respect. Respect for the facts, respect for the privacy of the individuals involved, and respect for the seriousness nature of mental illness.
The same sort of judgement and accusations were lobbed at Lance Franklin last year when he took some time away from the game also looking to recover from a mental health condition.
It seems there is still a large segment of the population who are quick to believe that a mental illness cannot be legitimate, it must be a cover-up or excuse for bad behaviour.
That is a dangerous and incorrect line of thought. Mental illnesses are a real and serious thing, and unwarranted scepticism from those without personal knowledge of the situation only makes them that much harder to recover from.
Granted, if a person was to falsely claim a mental illness as a way of escaping some sort of scandal, that would be worthy of reproach, as it could further destabilise the popular opinion of the reality of mental illness.
But, without any genuine evidence to support such a belief, those who level that accusation at others commit the very crime they are trying to prevent.
It’s not our right to speculate or cast judgements about Lyon’s personal life. That is his private domain and does not concern us.
He has not done anything illegal, it has nothing to do with football, and there is no evidence to suggest that his admission of a mental health condition is anything but honest.
Please think before you speculate, think before you judge. People suffering from mental illnesses are a very marginalised group in our society, whose plight is made all the more difficult by the fact that there are so many don’t take them seriously.
When you speak without thinking, when you accuse without evidence, you can only make things worse.
The Roar encourages all readers who may be suffering from mental illness to seek support from organisations such as Lifeline, Beyond Blue or Headspace.