Looking after your mental health is a hugely important part of staying healthy, and the GPA have recognised that with their latest campaign.
In recent months, there have been some touching and important stories from major figures in the GAA about the kind of problems they have faced with their mental health, be they to do with issues on the pitch or off it, and the GPA have launched a new campaign not only aimed at players, but Irish men in general, to try and get them talking.
They have made a short but stirring advertisement that shows some of the leading stars of both codes 'tattooed' with the problems that they're facing, and although no one says anything, the message is still incredibly powerful.
Donal Óg Cusack, speaking on the website launched with the initiative, said "we all feel stresses and pressures in different ways and a county jersey never made any of us bulletproof. We wear more than our county colours. This campaign, our programmes and in particular, our personal coaching and counselling programmes are confidential so please take that first step and call, you won’t regret it."
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There are also some personal stories from Alan O'Mara, Niall McNamee and Conor Cusack on the site, and they hope that this campaign will bring help not only to players in the sport at county level, but also at club level and, importantly, anyone who is experiencing a problem, no matter how small. Getting it off your chest to a close friend or to someone on the end of a phoneline can make a world of difference, and it helps immensely to see that sporting stars in an incredibly tough game are going through the same thing as the rest of us.
