I work in the social science area (that combined with sports managment) in community programs

Im looking at setting up a program where people who have or are sufferring from depression take up golf as a way of beating the blues

The walking is good and really the golf part is just to take thier mind some place else. Already my local support centre for people with mental health issues is behind the project and we have 7 or 8 keen people willing to take it on.

I have also written to several govt bodies looking for funding and so on, I hope it gets off the ground

why doi I need funding, well transport is one many people with these issues dont drive amd have very low incomes (we are talking about chronic depression)

It comes partly from personal expereince and my love of golf, in 97 I lost a close freind and it took me ages to get over it and taking up golf again (as I had given up through work) gave me a new focus away from work family and so on.

I will keep you posted on how it goes and if anyone out there has seen something smilar post your thoughts here.

Great Idea Dave. With a background in Psychology (studying it) and Golf (living it), and knowing people with depression, I think it is a wonderful idea. Might even take some books out on depression from the library and see what I can uncover (in terms of a link between the two). Very curios to see how it goes so please keep us posted.

I reckon it’s a great idea. The good thing about golf is that it is the most pointless activity imaginable; chasing a little white ball around a cow paddock trying to put it in a hole. Why are you trying to get it in the hole? Who cares. BUT, it does take a lot of concentration and you forget about everything else when you do it. I find that playing music does the same thing, you are too worried about playing the notes on the page to worry about anything else.

The only concern I’d have with the idea (I don’t know much about Psychology though) would be how people undertaking this theropy would respond to a bad day of golf. Would it make them more depressed? Or would they not be concerned about it and enjoy the game anyway?

Dave – good work. I have had depressive tendencies over the last 10 years and golf has helped me at times. But when my expectations are too high and I have a horror round – at can depress me !!!

I suffered depression around 10 years ago, and golf helped me tremendously. I was hopeless at it, still are, but the exercise was great therapy.

Go for it Dave.

Seems like a great idea Dave. Getting out into the fresh air, playing an enjoyable game with good company. It can only be good for one’s spirit and morale…..

Yeah, it does seem like a wikid idea. I often see golf as somewhat of an escape when i feel a bit “down” so maybe it can be like that for others too.

Mate,
You will find those with “Sadistic-Mascohistic” tendency will excel.
Regards
Murray Downs

golf is GIVING me depression

Dave…once again, go for it and I hope it gets off the ground for you. When I was young (18), I had so much pressure and expectations put on me with regards to golf that resulted in a meltdown so to say. 20 years ago it was looked upon as if you had depression, you were “nut’s”. As you will be well away, it is so common in this day and age. I personally believe that medication only works for certain people. What one must do is find the inner strength from yourself to face up to it and know you can get your life back on track. Professional assistance can help but it is more so the individual that will help more. Proving to yourself that you can snap out of it is the best cure. Kind of like golf, if you have fear, it is all over, if you believe in yourself, the sky is the limit.
Good luck mate.

Tai, i’m interested to know how you got through it, I am wearing those shoes now, i had alot of expectation put on me about 5 years, I’ve found i put alot on myself too, I went out to a 12 but still haven’t given up. Still struggling, any help from someone who knows what its like would be great.. you get so many people telling you your being silly and it can’t be that bad.. But they don’t understand.

Duffman81…....
Ok mate…my “down times” were when I was 18-20years. I am 38 now mate and have never looked back. How did I get through it way back then? Well, as I have mentioned, I had so much pressure placed on me with golf back then, both my parents died around the same time so I was in the dumps. Poor me I thought. Why me I thought. I hated the world, hated golf but it was my life. I had to pick myself up. I went for broke and decided to pack a suitcase, my clubs and travel the world in search of what made me happy. I had achieved my dream of playing golf full-time for a living and that sounds great to most golfers hitting the fairways on a weekend for pleasure. The “risk” I took was saying no to any pills the medico’s told me to take to make me feel better. I threw them in the bin and just woke up each day and said to myself, glad to be here, I am gonna be the best I can be and if any person says otherwise, well they can be all words and no action. It worked for me mate and to this day, I could not be happier with how things turned out. I also got cancer and beat it a couple of years ago mate and never got “sad”.. I just woke up the next morning and had the same old positive attitude I have to this day.
As for people saying your silly? Do not say anything to them..Just walk away mate. Only YOU CAN truly know what you want. In the end mate, I know our golf games are at different ends of the spectrum but that does not matter. Believe it or not, if I have a round of 3/4/5/6/7 over par and it happens at times, I do not care mate. Golf is great but it is not the most important thing in life as we all know. Being happy and shooting 100 is better than shooting par and wanting to knock yourself off. Like I have said many times in my posts, enjoy a beer and swing easy on the course…
Cheers….

appreciate it mate, thanks for the positive feedback.. I have seen alot of people and have come to a similar conclusion in that you can only be helped if you want the help, you don’t get any better unless your willing to pick yourself up and have a positive outlook… No amount of drugs can fix a negative attitude.. I have alot of reasons to be happy and its certainly helping me along, I still have to be really conscious of negative thoughts so its alot of hard work but story’s like yours and your ability to share them with complete strangers certainly gives me a boost in the right direction.

Duffman81…

Mate…I am on the otherside of this world and some 14 hours behind approx… behind Aussie time ok just to let you know but the internet world is always online ok no matter what the time. Yes mate, we are all strangers on this site but I actually give a shit and wish to try my best to help people with golf and in this case, give an insight into the things I had to deal with many years ago. I am on a ship mate cruising to my next destination at this time. (Brazil) I have some 25 lessons booked over the next 4 days ( on the ship) and then I have to play golf with these customers of which is always fun. It is a few beers (well many at times), golf clinics and being more than a golf pro, it is like being a tour operator at times i can tell you. After Brazil, I am sailing to Hawaii mate, there for a few weeks , back to the West coast of the USA, back down south to Brazil and then around the corner as we say to the Caribbean for a few months and then back to Europe. Great job it is mate.

Every single day I do pinch myself mate and think ””how good is this”. It is great but it took so much to get to this job mate. My dream was to play fulltime and I did but certain things stopped me from doing it.To go from a touring Pro to a teaching Pro felt strange but to me, I have a personality that is cool with teaching a person who is a beginner. I just want to help people. I do not give a shit about what people think of me, just helping is what matters.
Never think negative mate…be positive even if that means taking a risk ok. I can only speak for myself but it worked for me. Always have an open mind but trust yourself. No person is better than you mate, only you are better than yourself….Just do it my friend…

Great idea.

If I have a lousy day at work I go to the range buy two buckets of ball and whack hell out of the first bucket with an old 5 wood. Every ball has the face of the individual that has caused the frustration.

The second bucket I practice hitting easy shots and enjoy the ball going to where I want it. That has a real calmimg effect.

Go for it bud

Thanks guys, I almost left this site a few weeks ago seeing all the useless arguing and name calling that went on.. It’s pleasant to know there are some great people on here with some great stories.. Cheers guys i hope you all continue to be a great help

you can only be helped if you want the help, you don’t get any better unless your willing to pick yourself up and have a positive outlook… No amount of drugs can fix a negative attitude.

Hi Guys,

I too am a sufferer of the ‘Black Dog’, my experience is that the drugs can get you out of the deep pit of depression to allow you to work on the positive attitude. In my case there is also the diagnosed fact of brain chemical imbalance which can only be corrected with drugs.

As others have mentioned getting out for the exercise and just the sheer joy of the environment, ie birds, roos, the odd goanna, wind in the trees . . . ALL helps with getting and staying well!

Also the sense of achievement with a good shot or round helps too!

All the best for those with the struggle, dont be shy, get help. All you have to lose is your sadness.
Burger

I agree Burger, I was diagnosed as having slight bipolar disorder and dissociative identity disorder.
I went through hell for 5 years as doctors mistreated my physical symptoms and just told me to get bed rest, I felt like a complete hypochondriac.. I felt like i was slowly going insane i felt like s@%t but no-one beleived me as nothing showed up in blood tests or in scans.
I finally met a new doctor who got me the right help straight away. I too am on medication to balance everything out so i can function like a normal human being. This is where the positive attitude bit comes in, drugs do not fix the problem, they only reduce the symptoms.. get of the drugs and the symptoms are still there. I need to work on my issues to resolve the problem so i can come off the drugs, in fact i have reduced my dosages significantly through positively reenforcing my thoughts and attitudes.. drugs did not do this for me but alowed me to see clearly enough to help myself..
I can only comment on my situation and i guess everyone has to treat there illnesses the best way possible, some people may have such bad imbalances they may never get off the drugs and i respect that.. But I’m glad that people in this day and age are willing to talk about it and it’s becoming more widely understood.. that can only be better for all of us dealing with the Black dog

Dave, i think golf is great for people dealing with depression.. it helps to get the mind of things. I did find that competitive golf however has the opposite effect.. When things got to serious for me, i go out with a couple of mates and a few too many beers for motivation and create trickshots.. certainly adds the fun to it, chipping of beer bottles left handed with a right handed stick. Or standing in a tree hitting a wedge of a limb over a bunker to a tightly cut pin… good luck Dave and keep us all informed

How true…most doctors treat the symptoms and ignore the underlying cause….and in some instances not being prepared to believe the underlying cause . Your fortunate to have found a doctor who understands at such a young age.

I agree, drugs are needed to stabalise things, but unless it’s a severe chemical imbalance, the goal is to be med free.

Great post Duffmans, and the more we talk about things the better understanding we’ll all have. Hopefully golf can play it’s part in combating depression.

Keep us posted how things go Dave:)

I think golf steels a person in some way. BY playing the game you learn to manage emotion and try to stay in a calm and relaxed state. I think golf as a whole, with the walking etc. could be quite therepeutic.