[Cricket] Graham Thorpe RIP

El Presidente said:

Moving article in The Times today from Athers.

Graham Thorpe killed himself after two years of depression. Cricket has a problem with mental health. David Bairstow, Marcus Trescothick, Mark Ramprakash etc and now this.

Times (Paywall)

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Gwylan said:

There's actually a book about cricket and suicides - By his Own Hand by David Frith. it's a long-standing issue in the game. Rather poignantly, the book's foreword is written by Peter Roebuck (who also took his own life)

It's terribly sad to think about Thorpe in such a state and not able to find help but it's a story that's been told so many times

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Lenny Rider said:

Its not just cricket the UK has a problem with both mental health and a suicide epidemic, and until the authorities publicly acknowledge this, and start doing something positive, sadly Graham Thorpe will just be another statistic.

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Gwylan said:

There's actually a book about cricket and suicides - By his Own Hand by David Frith. it's a long-standing issue in the game. Rather poignantly, the book's foreword is written by Peter Roebuck (who also took his own life)

It's terribly sad to think about Thorpe in such a state and not able to find help but it's a story that's been told so many times

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Sid and the Sharknados said:

I don't have the words to describe how horrible that is.

When I saw this thread had popped back up, and before opening it, it reminded me that last week Cricket Australia put up the highlights of his hundred at the WACA in 1995. It's well worth a watch.

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LamieRobertson said:

Cricket….the UK is not unique to mental health issues…a quick google will show that people the world over suffer….i’d agree the authorities can probably do more to raise awareness….get the right help to those who need it …his family have obviously been very supportive and if there is a positive here then it’s that they’ve been able to ‘get it out there’ (feeling no shame) to say look here’s a person who was very successful and yet he suffered so much that in the end he thought it was best that he wasn’t around ….incredibly sad

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Lenny Rider said:

From the outset old boy I consider we are both on the same side here, and whilst I appreciate the UK is not unique to mental health issues I do feel the Govt (s), both past and present, should be doing more.

Funding an extensive NHS counselling network would be a start, rather than relying on the multi million pound industry the Anti Depressant drug market provides, I would imagine almost everyone who are part of the now record UK adult suicide figures were on some form of medication prior to taking their own life, so clearly in many cases, they don't work, so we need to look at other solutions, ie the counselling route.

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El Presidente said:

Whilst it was good to see the 1961 Suicide Act revoked recently in terms of suicide being deemed a criminal act, we still perhaps use the phrase “committed suicide” as a result of said legislation.

Criminals commit murder, arson, rape, theft, fraud etc. Suicide is very different, not a crime. It is the biggest cause of death for under 35’s overall, and the biggest killer of men under 50. As @Lenny Rider said, not enough is being done.

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El Presidente said:

Whilst it was good to see the 1961 Suicide Act revoked recently in terms of suicide being deemed a criminal act, we still perhaps use the phrase “committed suicide” as a result of said legislation.

Criminals commit murder, arson, rape, theft, fraud etc. Suicide is very different, not a crime. It is the biggest cause of death for under 35’s overall, and the biggest killer of men under 50. As @Lenny Rider said, not enough is being done.

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Lenny Rider said:

Former boxing champion Ricky Hatton tried to kill himself while battling depression

The two-weight world title holder admitted there was a huge gap in his life after retiring from a career that saw him take on the likes of Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao in front of his army of supporters in Las Vegas

www.theguardian.com

Thankfully one British sporting icon who has emerged the other side from that dark cloud of depression

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Durlston said:

I know it's a very different sport entirely but snooker has had a lot of players suffer from depression as well - Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Selby, Ali Carter, Mark Allen, Graeme Dott and John Higgins amongst others. Although they've mostly had off-table issues with relationship break-ups, struggling with grief, getting into debt etc, I think the similarity between cricket and snooker is that players become obsessed with numbers. I once heard O'Sullivan say you score 80 points, win the frame and keep having to repeat the process over and over again until you're mentally drained. I expect that's exactly the same with cricketers and scoring runs.

I feel really sad for Graham Thorpe in that he wasn't able to overcome his chronic depression and obviously his family he's left behind. There needs to be more funding for mental health in sport - especially for players who have finished their careers.

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Lenny Rider said:

From the outset old boy I consider we are both on the same side here, and whilst I appreciate the UK is not unique to mental health issues I do feel the Govt (s), both past and present, should be doing more.

Funding an extensive NHS counselling network would be a start, rather than relying on the multi million pound industry the Anti Depressant drug market provides, I would imagine almost everyone who are part of the now record UK adult suicide figures were on some form of medication prior to taking their own life, so clearly in many cases, they don't work, so we need to look at other solutions, ie the counselling route.

Click to expand...