Footballer David Cox (who plays for Scottish League Two side Cowdenbeath) has suffered from depression since the age of 15. Since David made the decision to speak out about his mental health issues (including that he has attempted suicide and self-harmed), he has received abuse from by players and fans.

Some of the abuse he was subjected to included fans saying “go and hang yourself and do it right this time”; and players talking about “me slitting my wrists and stuff”.

David has implied that some fans come in with the mentality that as they have paid their money, they can abuse who they want, and then go home and forget about what they have said, not thinking about how their actions have affected the individual(s) subject to their abuse (particularly if the individual suffers from mental health issues). For David, he described the effect as “it bothers me for the rest of the weekend. It gets me in a bad place again”.

David said that players often gave him abuse, just to gain a competitive advantage, then later apologised for their actions.

David’s story arguably highlights the lack of awareness in society about the seriousness mental health-related harassment, as otherwise the fans and players would not abuse and mock David for his mental health issues. There has been much focus on dealing with mental health issues in the workplace, however maybe David’s story indicates that there should still be a wider focus on educating society in general on the seriousness of mental health issues.

The law recognises that a mental impairment can meet the definition of disability (and therefore attract the protection of discrimination law). However, from a legal perspective it is notoriously difficult for depression to be recognised as a disability, and is almost impossible without medical evidence. In light of David’s story, maybe the law should have a different test for a mental disability (rather than at the moment, where one legal test captures both mental and physical disabilities) that captures most forms of mental illness, so to give more individuals suffering from mental illness the protection of discrimination law.

By Zahid Reza

Image used under CC courtesy of Martha_Chap