A psychologist who has been helping players cope with the impact of the coronavirus crisis has warned many are scared of returning ahead of the resumption of the Premier League season.
Stephen Sylvester, a chartered psychologist working in sport and business, has been kept busy throughout the lockdown trying to help players through their mental health problems caused by the halting of all football activity.
“I’m fielding a lot of calls from players who have lost their physical and mental balance because they aren’t training, let alone playing games,” Sylvester told Telegraph Sport.
“But they haven’t lost a sense of perspective. They understand that people are dying because of this virus and if you look at the comments from Sergio Aguero (last week), fear is a major, major concern. The fear of passing this on to someone.
“With Aguero, he talked about passing this on to someone with kids back home and the fear this return to football could end up hurting a child. He doesn’t even have children himself, but what he has is empathy and compassion. He is worried about his teammates who do.
“The reality with this situation is we are all human and this pandemic has made us feel our vulnerability. There is so much uncertainty in all our lives and for a footballer not to know when they are going to be able to play again is pretty stressful.
“But at the same time, that does not mean they are immune from other fears and concerns. Some will be scared about being made to return to the training ground and to start playing again when they know there could be a risk of infection. It can cause all sorts of what we might call ‘unwanted thinking’.”
Sylvester added that although many are desperate to get back and will feel a huge sense of relief when they are able to train properly again, others are far less happy.
He continued: “It is perfectly understandable that there are footballers who cannot wait to get back. They love playing football, they miss the games, they miss their mates and their colleagues and they miss the social interaction, the banter.
“But even those who can’t wait to get back can also have big concerns. There is fear, there is no doubt about that because I’m hearing that fear. What if they are carrying the virus and pass it on to someone else is the main one.
“The only way they can work through this is to identify their fears and concerns. I encourage them to go and seek the answers they need from their clubs. The clubs I have been working with have been very good at answering those questions because it’s important everyone is on the same page.”
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