{"id":464701,"date":"2026-05-28T17:09:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T17:09:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/464701\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T17:09:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T17:09:19","slug":"elijah-hollands-how-the-carlton-blues-stars-mental-health-battle-sparked-a-wave-of-young-men-to-open-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/464701\/","title":{"rendered":"Elijah Hollands: How the Carlton Blues star\u2019s mental health battle sparked a wave of young men to open up"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Mitch O\u2019Leary looks into his phone camera, his face wet with tears as the sound of a footy match plays on a television off-screen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have struggled with anxiety and panic attacks and things like that, depersonalisation, for a good chunk of … since I was probably 12,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wanted to jump on here and say it\u2019s OK to feel that way, you\u2019re not a burden to anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LachlanLachlan Buttigieg (left), Zach Goldfinch (middle) and Mitch O\u2019Leary (right) are among the young men who have opened up about their own private battles since Elijah Hollands\u2019 on-field mental health episode.@lachlansmotivation \/ @zachsfootyhub \/ @jumbleteeth<\/p>\n

It is a message as much to himself as it is to the roughly 200,000 social media followers he shares the video with \u2013 something he\u2019s been thinking about doing since seeing AFL player Elijah Hollands\u2019 own mental health issues play out on the public stage.<\/p>\n

The Carlton midfielder was thrust into the centre of a media maelstrom after he suffered a mental health episode during a prime-time game against Collingwood in April.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Focus<\/a><\/p>\n

O\u2019Leary, a Gold Coast-based influencer and former amateur footballer, said it was important Hollands not be left standing alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought the best thing I could do is just be vulnerable as well; show it\u2019s OK to not be OK,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In regional Victoria, country footballer Lachie Buttigieg had also been seeing videos of Hollands pop up in his feed.<\/p>\n

Having battled his own demons for years, it hit home.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were days I just struggled to get out of bed. I remember I took a week off work because I was struggling that bad \u2026 I just thought there was no point keeping going,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re at your lowest, it\u2019s like you\u2019ve got a million thoughts rushing through your head all the time \u2026 I can\u2019t imagine going through that so publicly.\u201d<\/p>\n

He reached out to Hollands\u2019 family for permission to run the Halls Gap half-marathon in Elijah\u2019s honour, raising money for the Black Dog Institute. Buttigieg said he was surprised and humbled when he heard from the Carlton star\u2019s dad Ben, who spoke to Elijah and gave his blessing.<\/p>\n

Ben said the family appreciated Buttigieg\u2019s \u201ccourage, generosity and heart\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis efforts represent far more than a physical challenge, they represent empathy, awareness and the willingness of a young person to stand beside someone else during difficult times,\u201d he told this masthead.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been overwhelmed by this same spirit of support from across the community \u2026 Mental health impacts individuals, families and communities in profound ways, and acts like this help create important conversations while reminding people they are not alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FormerFormer footballer Ben Hollands (centre) with sons Ollie (left) and Elijah (right) at the 2025 Carlton club championships.Jonathan Di Maggio<\/p>\n

O\u2019Leary and Buttigieg are among a number of young men who have opened up about their private battles since Hollands\u2019 on-field mental health episode, which saw the 24-year-old later admitted to hospital.<\/p>\n

Black Dog, a leading mental health research institute, said it had also observed an increase in community sports clubs reaching out to ask how they could better support the mental health of players and coaching staff.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Fremantle<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen something like this unfolds in front of hundreds of thousands of people, it has the power to shift a national conversation,\u201d executive director and chief scientist Sam Harvey said.<\/p>\n

Whether young players have got the message that it\u2019s OK not to be OK, sentiment remains mixed.<\/p>\n

Some have said the framing of Carlton\u2019s punishment \u2013 a $75,000 fine for \u201cbringing the game into disrepute\u201d for allowing Hollands to play almost four full quarters \u2013 could cause players with mental health issues to feel like burdens or make clubs more likely to view them as high-risk recruits.<\/p>\n

Sydney-based amateur footballer and content creator Zach Goldfinch, who also posted about his mental health following Hollands\u2019 episode, said it could go either way.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is such a stigma around mental health, not just in the AFL men\u2019s league but in sport in general,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope it doesn\u2019t stop clubs from taking leaps of faith with players \u2026 though I do think you\u2019ll probably see more of a reservation around players wanting to join [a club] if they feel like their mental health programs aren\u2019t up to scratch.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Three-timeThree-time All Australian Matthew Richardson says he has observed a positive shift in discussions around mental health since he retired from the AFL.Justin McManus<\/p>\n

Three-time All-Australian Matthew Richardson said there was still work to be done to make sure players felt comfortable to open up \u2013 but things were moving in the right direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was in my 20s \u2026 it was a bit of a harden up sort of attitude,\u201d said Richardson, an ambassador for men\u2019s mental health program The Male Hug, which operates the volunteer-run 1800MYBUDDY hotline.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe generation below me, I think they\u2019re a lot more willing to open up \u2026 Even my generation now are starting to. Like my good group of mates, we check in on each other more than we ever have, even being able to just tell each other that you love each other \u2026 It\u2019s gotten a lot better, but there\u2019s still a long, long way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richardson said he would like to see the league introduce a dedicated mental health round \u2013 an idea supported by O\u2019Leary, Buttigieg and Goldfinch, as well as AFL players such as Geelong star Bailey Smith.<\/p>\n

\"GeelongGeelong star Bailey Smith is among those who have called on the AFL to introduce a dedicated mental health round.AFL Photos<\/p>\n

The league has not indicated plans to pursue this, but announced it would mandate a full-time psychologist for all AFL and AFLW clubs, among other initiatives, after its investigation into Hollands\u2019 situation \u2013 however recent reports indicate they may be considering softening their stance on this. <\/p>\n

Thurgoona senior football team captain Mathew Howard said it\u2019s the kind of support he\u2019s keen to see extend down to semi-professional and amateur clubs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got young kids that certainly aspire to get [to AFL level] but there\u2019s a lot of pressure, probably more than ever before \u2026 and I feel like sometimes they probably get to the AFL, and they\u2019re already burnt out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA good starting point could be to have welfare officers mandated for each club at the country level.\u201d<\/p>\n

The AFL announced this week it would provide those aged 15 to 25 with free access to a digital mental health platform, via the AFL PLAY website, which contains self-directed programs and access to a live chat with a qualified mental health practitioner.<\/p>\n

Support is available from Beyond Blue <\/a>on 1300 22 4636, Lifeline<\/a> on 13 11 44, MensLine Australia<\/a> on 1300 78 99 78.<\/p>\n

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\"BridgetBridget McArthur<\/a> is a sports affairs reporter at The Age, covering the intersection of sports and politics\/business\/economy\/society.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464702,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[163,85,46,522,523],"class_list":["post-464701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}