Captain McGrath Opens up on his Mental Health Journey

May 8, 2024 – MLS NEXT Pro (MLS NEXT Pro)
Chattanooga FC News Release

Midfielder and captain Alex McGrath recently sat down for a conversation with Brandon Clift with the Mankind Project USA and Men Who Chatt, focusing on men’s mental health.

McGrath and Clift discussed the importance of men’s mental health, the impact of mental health growing up in their lives, how to have conversations about it in today’s world, as well as McGrath’s own personal struggles with mental health.

Clift and McGrath also dove into the significance of men’s mental health, drawing from their personal experiences. They reflected on how societal attitudes, particularly in their cultural upbringings – McGrath from England and Clift from Australia – often discourage men from discussing their emotions openly.

“You don’t really talk about it, it’s just something that you’re told to get on with,” said McGrath during the conversation.

“You have people here and there trying to push you in the right direction, to, to open up a little bit. But, growing up, you’re at school, playing football, whatever sport you’re playing, it’s not really spoken about. So it’s something that you try and figure it out yourself.”

The conversation moved to the risk of opening up about mental health and why McGrath may have found it difficult in the past. He acknowledged the stigma and the reluctance he felt in discussing his issues openly.

“Again, it’s probably that stigma of it. You never talk about it with your mates. You never got that deep in conversation. You just turn up to school, you turn up there to play football, cricket, whatever it was. And that’s what you were there to do. You never felt like you needed a shoulder to cry on because you never wanted to get to that point where like, oh he’s weak, he’s crying or he’s talking about something that would never come up in a social environment. So when you’re spending every day with your mates and with different people, it’s just a topic that would never come up.”

‘Felt like a weight off my shoulders’

He also emphasized the importance of destigmatizing conversations around mental health.

“Just little things like opening up and having little chats, even with your mates, as much as you don’t realize, it’s not a therapy session, but those little bits of advice maybe here and there. I think that goes a long way and not everyone has that opportunity and not everyone is probably at that point in their life where they’re willing to do that. So, I just hope…