In early July, 2006, British experts said that soccer is being used in an indirect way to help men battle mental health issues such as depression and low self-esteem. This applies to attending matches, as well having therapy sessions on the ball field, away from a traditional clinical setting.
The patients used football terms to replace medical jargon where, for example, a striker was a loner drifting in and out and a midfielder was used to describe hard, uncompromising black-and-white personalities.
"Therapy sessions last a season and have been so successful that the first group still meets, without a nurse."
Many of the men involved said it had helped and a third of the original 12 men have returned to work after periods of unemployment.
One researcher said: "The success of the project lies in changing both language and venue, so that the men are feeling comfortable with both. This will not make a huge impact on mainstream mental health care but reality is telling us that young men are still four times more likely to kill themselves, and so perhaps it's worth investing in creative ideas like this.
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