Apparently, an in-person meeting followed by a phone call with your grumpy boss is enough to solve serious mental health concerns within a week and prompt one to return to the work environment they were trying to take a break from.
In a country where speaking about mental health is a taboo, the way Bangladesh Cricket Board and Shakib Al Hasan dealt with the notion of mental fatigue in their recent debacle has raised many eyebrows.
Many have expressed their concerns by stating that the incident would only reinforce the pre-existing stereotypes surrounding mental health and will strengthen the discourse of those who don't consider it a serious issue.
Taking a mental health break is not a new thing in sports, especially during these times of pandemic where bio-bubble fatigue has bogged down players of all disciplines.
England all-rounder Ben Stokes, Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka and American gymnast Simone Biles were all seen opting out of crucial sporting events recently with the full support of their superior authorities.
Their situations were handled very delicately by the concerned bodies and rightly so.
But all hell broke loose when Shakib Al Hasan said last Sunday that he is not prepared to play international cricket citing mental health concerns and wishing to take a break.
BCB boss Nazmul Hasan Papon and Bangladesh men's team director Khaled Mahmud, responded by questioning Shakib's commitment to the Bangladesh team.
Papon took things further and questioned whether Shakib would have had mental health issues if he got an IPL team in the recently concluded auction, a low blow which was uncalled for.
However, BCB granted him a break from cricket till April 30 on Thursday seemingly backtracking from their strict stance.
But the issue did not end there as both Papon and Shakib met at the Home of Cricket in Mirpur yesterday where both the parties mutually agreed that Shakib joining the team will be a perfect ‘diagnosis’ for the ace-all rounder.
Thus, a mental health issue had been solved and all it needed was a meeting between Shakib and Papon.
But we cannot ignore some of the statements made by them to the journalists at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.
“After coming back from UAE, he discussed his situation with me. He is suffering from mental disturbance. However, he now told me that he wants to play in South Africa,” Papon said to the press.
However, he was unable to explain why it would be a wise idea to field Shakib into the 22 yards at the demanding South African conditions despite him not being in the right headspace.
As usual, Shakib’s statement and actions were shrouded with mystery too in the last one week.
“From now on, the board will decide when I need help,” Shakib said.
“After going to South Africa, I may get better. That can happen. When you go to a better environment, you feel good.," Shakib added with a cheeky grin on his face which sparked controversy as experts and citizens concerned about mental health say dealing with serious psychological issues is not that easy and this statement will just contribute further in not taking such concerns seriously.
Although players like Ben Stokes or Jonathon Trott completely distanced themselves from all sorts of sporting and commercial commitments to work with their mental health, Shakib travelled Dubai to participate in an advertising campaign of mobile phone company Oppo and fulfilled several other commercial pledges right after announcing he wants to opt-out from international cricket.
But this doesn’t mean the claim of the star all-rounder regarding mental health issues was false as it is normal that the 22-yards of the cricket field can be the trigger point for the stalwart.
Shakib himself mentioned in an interview last year after returning from IPL that he understood how serious depression can be and he understood at which stage a person can contemplate suicide.
The process to win against depression can be long and painful and one cannot win against the voices inside their head in a single day.
The way BCB and Shakib Al Hasan handled it was unprofessional, to say the least, even so in a country where mental health issues are already laughed at by a huge chunk of people.
