Past #1: Majak Daw [Part II] - 54 NM games/43 NM goals - delisted end '20 - SSP selection for MFC '21 - retired mid-'22

[Waussie]

By having these guys spend 30 minutes a week or fortnight with the psych and just random talking, it gives the psych an opportunity to build a relationship with the player and Visa versa.

 

[Kimbo]

By having these guys spend 30 minutes a week or fortnight with the psych and just random talking, it gives the psych an opportunity to build a relationship with the player and Visa versa.

And break down any perceived psychological or emotional barriers around seeing a psychologist, meaning that if push came to shove, that the pathway to help is less fraught. Indeed, easy.

 

[Snake_Baker]

We have the internet in the country!

You're a wealth of knowledge.

 

[marklovesbeer]

Guys, I wasn't sure about posting this, but here goes. Mods feel free to delete if not appropriate.

So, I just received a phone call from my youngest boys high school headmaster. My son was asked to give a speech on high school life and his "what you take from 4 years of high school". My son being the kid he is, decided to make the chat about depression/anxiety and how it affects people, young and old, famous or not… using his favourite North Melbourne player, Majak, as the example… without mentioning his name or specifics! Apparently he had most of the school assembly in tears, especially the teachers and parents who were there… including my wife!

The headmaster has asked me for a copy of the speech. I've just had a chat to my son and apparently there is no copy… he spoke from the heart and on the fly! I asked when he decided to change his talk on school life to the chat he gave, he said, as he was walking out on to the stage. I asked why, he replied with, "We all love Maj dad!"


Kids eh… now I'm in tears, again!


I'll leave this here as a "comment".

Edit Note: For those that have messaged me and asked this question, Yes, my son suffers from Anxiety. So in short, a massive ask for him to speak in front of his school assembly.... very proud of him!


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

Beautiful.

 

[Bigeasy]

We do have player welfare staff who should be picking this stuff up. Having compulsory psychiatry appointments is ludicrous, they'll start making mental conditions up to justify their salaries. Players should only visit them if they choose to as it will become a pointless exercise.

 

[Firestarter]

We do have player welfare staff who should be picking this stuff up. Having compulsory psychiatry appointments is ludicrous, they'll start making mental conditions up to justify their salaries. Players should only visit them if they choose to as it will become a pointless exercise.

We already have a comp wide rules committee making shit up to justify its existence. At least this helps people.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

And break down any perceived psychological or emotional barriers around seeing a psychologist, meaning that if push came to shove, that the pathway to help is less fraught. Indeed, easy.

99% of the general public couldn't even tell you the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist, as such they're often seen almost like "mythical" beings in the medical field.

It's actually eye opening speaking to a mental health professional and realising they're just a person too and building a rapport. The walls fall really quickly and relationships build fast. Its just a matter of putting in the initial leg work and building the initial rapport.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

We do have player welfare staff who should be picking this stuff up. Having compulsory psychiatry appointments is ludicrous, they'll start making mental conditions up to justify their salaries. Players should only visit them if they choose to as it will become a pointless exercise.

I do hope this is tongue in cheek.

Medical professionals making stuff up for money? You know thats illegal right?

 

[miss_kate18]

Guys, I wasn't sure about posting this, but here goes. Mods feel free to delete if not appropriate.

So, I just received a phone call from my youngest boys high school headmaster. My son was asked to give a speech on high school life and his "what you take from 4 years of high school". My son being the kid he is, decided to make the chat about depression/anxiety and how it affects people, young and old, famous or not… using his favourite North Melbourne player, Majak, as the example… without mentioning his name or specifics! Apparently he had most of the school assembly in tears, especially the teachers and parents who were there… including my wife!

The headmaster has asked me for a copy of the speech. I've just had a chat to my son and apparently there is no copy… he spoke from the heart and on the fly! I asked when he decided to change his talk on school life to the chat he gave, he said, as he was walking out on to the stage. I asked why, he replied with, "We all love Maj dad!"


Kids eh… now I'm in tears, again!


I'll leave this here as a "comment".

Edit Note: For those that have messaged me and asked this question, Yes, my son suffers from Anxiety. So in short, a massive ask for him to speak in front of his school assembly.... very proud of him!


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

Can’t even put into words how important it is that your son has done this, and how helpful this might be for his peers who are struggling with either a diagnosed mental illness or something they think might be one but they don’t know how to go about getting help.

When I was in high school, mental illness was just not spoken about. It was something that happened to other people, people from the wrong side of the tracks, certainly not high achieving selective school girls. The things my school was on high alert for were anorexia, slipping academic performance and family struggles. If you ate your lunch, got good marks and had parents who were together you could literally be walking around with self harm scars and the attitude was “she’s fine, just attention seeking”.

I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 17 and because of a lack of early intervention will be on medication for life. The fact that people your son’s age are openly discussing mental illness, depression and the need to talk about it is so healthy. And he’s a ****ing champ for knowing that people who admit to their mental illness often face stigma and judgment, and having the guts to do it anyway.

 

[Snake_Baker]

Majak was normal, his life wasn't.

IMO, he doesn't need any psych's, he needs to get away from the bullshit existence that was pulling him in different directions and the false expectations that came with it.

 

[SpiderBurton22]

Majak was normal, his life wasn't.

IMO, he doesn't need any psych's, he needs to get away from the bullshit existence that was pulling him in different directions and the false expectations that came with it.

Please, don't pretend you know anything about his situation or what is good for him.

 

[Snake_Baker]

Please, don't pretend you know anything about his situation or what is good for him.

Are you saying he wasn't normal?

 

[SpiderBurton22]

He wasn't normal?

No idea, never met him to make a judgement.

 

[Snake_Baker]

No idea, never met him to make a judgement.

I'm comfortable in stating he was a pretty normal bloke with the exception that his sporting prowess and background brought upon him a surreal life for a bloke from his back ground, and I am happy to conclude that a surreal mindset leads to people attempting to take their lives. In fact, it goes hand in hand with the act.

It's not any clinical diagnosis, but it doesn't invalidate an opinion either.

 

[SpiderBurton22]

I'm comfortable in stating he was a pretty normal bloke with the exception that his sporting prowess brought upon a surreal life for a bloke from his back ground, and I am happy to conclude that a surreal mindset leads to people attempting to take their lives.

It's not any clinical diagnosis, but it doesn't invalidate an opinion either.

So he was normal apart from his sporting background, heh?

I would imagine fleeing a war torn nation and the experiences related to that journey would not make him normal, in fact, I could list a whole lot of reasons but in the end I'd be guessing because I don't actually have any qualified information on his life.

And in matters like these, I think unimformed opinions given by anyone on what's best for Majak are a waste of time.

 

[Snake_Baker]

So he was normal apart from his sporting background, heh?

Yeah, AFL celebrity and the demanding stuff that comes with it would be pretty bizarre for a man that peered through a tent flap as a child in a war zone on the other side of the world.

I like Heath's current call's for Maj's privacy, I just hope he also includes himself in that stand and I hope the club pay out his contract in full immediately and never bother him with publicity ever again.

 

[True North]

I do hope this is tongue in cheek.

Medical professionals making stuff up for money? You know thats illegal right?

Dr Reid managed to let an illegal human drug trial operate under his nose and did nothing but maybe send 1 letter to the person running the illegal trials. He suffered nothing for this.

 

[Passmore]

It's a sad situation. I didn't know him personally but I hope he recovers.



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[remfan101]

Majak was normal, his life wasn't.

IMO, he doesn't need any psych's, he needs to get away from the bullshit existence that was pulling him in different directions and the false expectations that came with it.

Who are you to know that his struggles have anything to do with fame? Or if they don't? Mental illness. Does not. Discriminate.

 

[Horace]

In my view at the beginning of every season, each player should meet with a mental health professional, simply to have a chance to air any concerns, maybe set in place a time for regular meeting in the season ahead and allow the professional to in some cases form a view as to whether there may be issues, often that the player himself or herself, has no idea are lurking in the background. Most players will not need to see someone any more than once a year.

The playing list of a football club is put together from people from every part of society and so what for one player some issue might be a basic "meat and potatoes" issue, another player may be completely freaked out by that same issue.

If we are as a society to progress on this issue, the act of meeting with a mental health professional is something that needs to be normalised, just as you might go to a GP or a dentist for a checkup. It is not that long ago society had a view that anyone visiting a mental health professional was a nutter, when in fact depression and anxiety are conditions that each and everyone of us can succumb to at any time. Hence the old prejudiced stereotypes need to disappear.

 

[Passmore]

Who are you to know that his struggles have anything to do with fame? Or if they don't? Mental illness. Does not. Discriminate.

No one knows what his issues were.

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[LETSGOKANGAS]

Its hard to understand how bad things really are for people who decide to take this unfortunate path.

So sad that it can affect anyone of us.

 

[iSmack]

F*** footy.

Take your time Maj.

Health, family and character come first...

Your parents didn't cross the desert escaping war, corruption and death only for you to be taken by the same thing that were fleeing.

Time to go back to the simple things in life.

Family, good food, holidays, laughing, hiking, massage, hot springs etc.

Rebuild the mind to be as chiselled as your triceps...


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[tales129]

Who are you to know that his struggles have anything to do with fame? Or if they don't? Mental illness. Does not. Discriminate.

****ing spot on.

No one will ever understand what it’s like for any other individual. You cannot relate to their circumstances or their internal monologue no matter how high and mighty you are.

Treat everyone as equal and as a ****ing human and that’s your starting point

 

[Snake_Baker]

Who are you to know that his struggles have anything to do with fame? Or if they don't? Mental illness. Does not. Discriminate.

A bizarre response.

What are you doing here if it isn't to express or read opinions?