Ex-Subbies stars go into bat for mental health

Two former VSDCA leading players have opened up about mental health ahead of Saturday’s Malvern-Caulfield match.

Mark Thomas (left) and Gavin Thompson at Caulfield Park. Picture: Valeriu Campan

They stood at the boundary fence, chatting and watching the cricket, as former players often do on Saturday afternoons.

Mark Thomas, 48, and Gavin Thompson, 46, talked about the state of play on the ground as Caulfield battled Brighton at Caulfield Park.

They also spoke about mental health, their battles with it and their quest to help others.

Former Sub-District opponents, they’re now both Beyond Blue ambassadors.

At Thompson’s instigation, they came together last Saturday to discuss and promote the issue ahead of this week’s Subbies match between great rivals Caulfield and Malvern.

“Just saw it as a good opportunity to spread the word a little bit, try to keep reducing that stigma and raise awareness about people getting some help around their mental health,’’ Thompson said. “Sport is a good way to drive it.’’

Mark Thomas (left) and Gavin Thompson. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Thomas opened the bowling for Caulfield.

Thompson was a leading batsman at Malvern.

He missed playing in a championship because of depression and anxiety, which he has battled since he was young.

“I think I was diagnosed when I was 17 or 18,’’ Thompson, an Australian Under 17 and Victorian Under 19 player, said.

Gavin Thompson was an Australian Under 17 representative.

“It’s been a bit of a struggle all the way through. It has affected my life. Affected my cricket and those sorts of things. It probably stopped me from going any further with it. It was so crippling that there were times there I didn’t play for periods of time. Even with game preparation and during the game, you’re fighting this other battle. It’s not just about going out and playing sport. You’ve got this crippling anxiety and depression you’re fighting at the same time. Back then, early to mid-1990s, you’d just hide it.’’

Thomas said he and Thompson were “two blokes who have been through mental health journeys and are still going through it’’.

He said while they had sought help, a lot of other people didn’t and wanted to hide it.

That was “1990s thinking’’, he said.

“This idea that it’s weak to put your hand up is complete crap,’’ Thomas said.

“I espouse that it takes a lot more courage to put your hand up and go to see a psych or your GP or have a chat to your mates than it is to push it away and try to run from it. You can’t run from it. It’s not going anywhere. You’ve got to treat it.’’

Mark Thomas is a Victoria Police officer. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Thomas has been a Victoria Police officer for 24 years.

He said his mental health issues were “trauma driven’’.

In his first seven years in the job he attended many suicides, drug overdoses and fatal accidents, and was never bothered by it.

“My resilience was pretty good,’’ Thomas said.

But in 2003 he was called to another suicide. He can remember the date – April 8 – and the scene before him, the colours in the room, the pots and pans in the kitchen, the clothes the deceased person was wearing.

“It impacted me straight away,’’ he said. “I didn’t know it. Just naive and uneducated. Long story short, 10 years later I ended up in hospital diagnosed with PTSD, depression, anxiety.’’

He said his condition had an impact on his cricket.

Thomas said he had “no self-confidence whatsoever’’ in his last few years at Caulfield.

He was a three-time VSDCA representative player but he always felt he was on the verge of being dropped to the seconds.

“It was never going to happen but my self-worth was shot, and that greatly affects how you perform on the field,’’ Thomas said.

Mark Thomas bowling for Caulfield.

He said his mental health was a “daily event’’. When he wakes up every day he does a “self-check, to see where I’m at’’.

“I’m lucky now. The vast majority of the time I’m in a pretty good place. At the moment I’m flying. It’s great,’’ he said.

“And when you get into these places where you’re travelling really well you sit back and go, ‘This ain’t going to last forever, so I’m really going to enjoy this’. But it’s that educational part you push out. It’s the diet, it’s water, it’s exercise, mindfulness and meditation.

“The thing I find frustrating the most is that it’s not that hard to maintain your mental health. But there are so many people out there in the community, particularly blokes, who are horrible at it. There will probably be eight or nine suicides in Australia today and seven or eight of them will be blokes. We’ve still got this attitude that we’re tough and we don’t show emotion.’’

Caulfield and Malvern have one of Melbourne cricket’s greatest rivalries.

Thompson said he had learned to manage his mental health too.

“At the moment I’m in a pretty good spot,’’ he said.

“A big part of it for me is being open and being able to talk about it and share experiences with others. That’s the thing I really like doing, trying to help other people. There are so many good people out there really battling in silence. That upsets me. It breaks my heart. I’ve been there myself, when you can’t see anything in front of you. But when you switch on a bit of logic there is something there. And there’s so much help too.’’

The Caulfield-Malvern rivalry goes back decades.

Malvern stalwart David Priddle once remarked that no season could be considered a success unless the club had defeated Caulfield.

The clubs have regularly won premierships and paraded notable players.

As Thompson sees it, they “hate each other’’ on the field but have an abiding respect off it.

“With mental health, we come together, because we’re all pushing in the one direction,’’ he said. “We’re all trying to win the same game.’’

Lifeline: 13 11 14 or lifeline.org.au

Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636 or beyondblue.org.au

Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800 or kidshelpline.com.au

Headspace: 1800 650 890 or headspace.org.au