2<\/p>\n Robbie Savage, Forest Green Rovers manager, has previously spoken openly about his own mental struggles as a player and coachCredit: Getty 2<\/p>\n Free tickets to football matches will be dished out on the NHS to people with depression under a landmark schemeCredit: Getty<\/p>\n The scheme is designed to wean those suffering from mental health<\/a> conditions off addictive antidepressants<\/a> and get them out of the house to meet pals.<\/p>\n Some 91 million prescriptions for the sadness-busting drugs were dispensed in 2024, the equivalent of around three every second.<\/p>\n A record amount of antidepressants<\/a> were also handed to children, including almost 4000 prescriptions for those under ten in 2024.<\/p>\n The new footy proposal follows suggestions by Labour<\/a> MP Dr Simon Opher, a key advocate for social prescriptions for patients with mild mental health conditions<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dr Opher, 61, has previously championed NHS<\/a>-sanctioned comedy nights and gardening to help improve mental wellbeing.<\/p>\n The Labour MP for Stroud, in south Gloucestershire<\/a>, joined widescale conern over the increasing number of people being prescribed pills where doing so could be avoided.<\/p>\n Dr Opher found that 80 per cent of patients who are prescribed social activities instead of drugs continue with them even after their \u2018course\u2019 runs out.<\/p>\n Many patients say meeting new people through their chosen activity, including exercise, walking groups or cooking clubs, reduces lonliness and makes them feel better.<\/p>\n The doctor went on: \u201cI do think there\u2019s something about watching football which does give you a sense of community.<\/p>\n \u201cI think one of the biggest problems in our society is social isolation.<\/p>\n Britain\u2019s greenest football club Forest Green Rovers create eco-friendly kit made from coffee beans<\/p>\n \u201cFootball is about socialising and roaring on your team, getting excited, taking yourself out of your own life for a short while, and living through something else.\u201d<\/p>\n Forest Green Rovers<\/a>, who appointed tough-tackling ex-Wales midfielder Robbie Savage<\/a> as manager earlier this month, have provided the tickets for free as part of the trial.<\/p>\n BBC pundit and radio host Savage, 50, has previously spoken openly about his own mental struggles as a player and coach.<\/p>\n In 2017, he said: \u201cAs soon as the lights go out and the mic is off, I go back into my shell. I go home, I worry. I am insecure, very insecure.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLots of current and ex-footballers, or just people in the workplace, suffer from these mental health issues but don\u2019t speak.\u201d<\/p>\n The club, which boasts of being Britain\u2019s most eco-friendly footy side, were relegated from the Football League to the National League last year \u2014 but are looking to be promoted back to League Two<\/a> this season.<\/p>\n Club owner and major Labour donor Dale Vince said: \u201cI think it\u2019d be a great thing if football clubs up and down the country could reach out to people and do this.<\/p>\n \u201cMen typically don\u2019t really talk about their issues, that\u2019s the thing, and you get loneliness and things like that as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr Opher\u2019s concerns about over-prescribing began early in his career as a GP in 1995.<\/p>\n Depression… the signs to look for and what to do<\/p>\n Depression can manifest in many ways.<\/p>\n We all feel a bit low from time to time.<\/p>\n But depression is persistent and can make a person feel helpless and unable to see a way through.<\/p>\n They may also struggle to about daily life.<\/p>\n Mind says these are some common signs of depression that you may experience:<\/p>\n How you might feel<\/p>\n Down, upset or tearfulRestless, agitated or irritableGuilty, worthless and down on yourselfEmpty and numbIsolated and unable to relate to other peopleFinding no pleasure in life or things you usually enjoyAngry or frustrated over minor thingsA sense of unrealityNo self-confidence or self-esteemHopeless and despairingFeeling tired all the time<\/p>\n How you might act<\/p>\n Avoiding social events and activities you usually enjoySelf-harming or suicidal behaviourDifficulty speaking, thinking clearly or making decisionsLosing interest in sexDifficulty remembering or concentrating on thingsUsing more tobacco, alcohol or other drugs than usualDifficulty sleeping, or sleeping too muchNo appetite and losing weight, or eating more than usual and gaining weightPhysical aches and pains with no obvious physical causeMoving very slowly, or being restless and agitated<\/p>\n If you feel this way, visit your GP who can help you.<\/p>\n If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support.<\/p>\n The following are free to contact and confidential:<\/p>\n Mind, www.mind.org<\/a>, provide information about types of mental health problems and where to get help for them. Email info@mind.org.uk<\/a>\u00a0or call the infoline on 0300 123 3393 (UK landline calls are charged at local rates, and charges from mobile phones will vary).<\/p>\n YoungMinds <\/a>run a free, confidential parents helpline on 0808 802 5544 for parents or carers worried about how a child or young person is feeling or behaving. The website has a chat option too.<\/p>\n Rethink Mental Illness, www.rethink.org<\/a>, gives advice and information service offers practical advice on a wide range of topics such as The Mental Health Act, social care, welfare benefits, and carers rights.\u00a0Use its website or call 0300 5000 927 (calls are charged at your local rate).<\/p>\n He said: \u201cI\u2019d started seeing there are a lot of people depressed out there, a lot of people with low mood, so I started putting a lot of them on antidepressants or referring them to mental health.<\/p>\n \u201cQuite a few of them, one in four, maybe even more, would just come back no better, but with intractable problems.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I realised is that tablets didn\u2019t help them, we had nothing to help them.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought we needed to try something different and do a different behaviour.\u201d<\/p>\n Football clubs have previously been involved in so-called social prescriptions.<\/p>\n In 2019, Championship<\/a> side Portsmouth FC<\/a> ran a \u201cMen\u2019s Kitchen\u201d club for men who were recently divorced or bereaved and suffering from social isolation.<\/p>\n Sheffield United<\/a> put on walking groups for fans struggling to get out of the house, while Bristol Rovers<\/a> organised a kickabout for supporters with anxiety<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FREE tickets to football matches will be dished out on the NHS to people with depression under a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12239,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[3275,8024,102,6591,2570,104,8023,2262,2752,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-12238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-depression","tag-gp","tag-health","tag-medication","tag-mental-health-and-illness","tag-nhs","tag-robbie-savage","tag-section-healthnews-health","tag-the-sun-newspaper","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Robbie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/robbie-savage-manager-forest-green-1007582362.jpg\")
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