Are Utd Making You Depressed?

[Cole9]

In the past 5 years or so, I've become indifferent to us losing games. Sadly, I've lost interest in modern football in general. Part of the problem is that I don't really like many of our players. I don't like the attitude of most modern footballers, who seem more interested in their bank account, social media accounts and brands than caring about the club they play for and giving 100% every game. Don't get me started on VAR either. With the way the game is going (and United), I doubt I'll get that interest back any time soon.

Yes, I'm aware this sounds like an old man yelling at the clouds.

 

[Bilbo]

Nail on head. It can be frustrating and it can make you mad or sad. That’s totally normal. It may also make you a little bit depressed talking around in circles about how to fix the club but at the end of the day why would you let something you have 0 control over control how you feel or act in general beyond that?

It’s probably going to take another few years for us to sort ourselves out as an organisation so if you don’t have the stomach for the flat and plain bad while that happens then don’t get as invested. We should probably come with a depression warning for the next while
Imagine how those Liverpool fans felt for the last 30 years?

I'd go one step further and ask these depressed fans to imagine what the football supporting life is like for a Stoke fan, or a Colchester fan, or a Norwich fan or a Reading fan or etc etc etc

If you are tying up your enjoyment level of United so closely to our success, then in my opinion you're not even really a fan of football as much as you are a fan of winning.

To those people I would ask them to try to imagine the type of person that devotedly follows any of the other 85 clubs in this country that don't regularly win trophies. What drives those people to go to games year after year knowing that the ceiling of their clubs potential is largely set in stone, and that closure is as likely as a cup final would ever be.

We are all lucky to be United supporters. We've seen unmatched success in our lifetimes. A hundred fantastic nights, and we didn't have to do a thing to earn it, yet this thread is full of posters who 'can't really be arsed to watch us (on the TV, for free, in their armchair) at the moment' because we are 2nd! It's really not a good look for our fanbase.

 

[Bondi77]

It’s not that simple though. Could you just stop watching United? That’s not an easy choice when you’ve followed them religiously throughout your life, travelling home and away.

Then factor in if you already have some form of depression, as MANY people do, including myself. Then it becomes an issue.

I’ve posted before that it doesn’t entirely set the bar for my mood or outlook at the time of a bad result however it does certainly add weight to whichever way your mood is leaning at the time.

If I’m in a low place part of me dreads games like the derby on Sunday becuase I know it will only make me feel worse if we have a negative result. I used to let it really influence my mood far more than I should have, I’ve learned to limit its impact but like any negative in life when your depressed it just adds to it.

Football is far more important to some than others, everybody is different. In isolation football or any sport shouldn't trigger actual depression, but as mentioned above it certainly adds to it for somebody who is already suffering depression.

It’s actually rather insulting (not to me personally) to suggest United’s poor performances are making people clinically depressed. It’s a bit like when people say they are OCD just because they clean their desk at work, it’s nothing like the true condition.

Feel free not to reply to me but are you of an age that experienced our success under Fergie?

 

[RUCK4444]

Feel free not to reply to me but are you of an age that experienced our success under Fergie?

Yeah. Fergie was appointed the year I was born, all I know is United success, having seen us win every single trophy physically available to us I use that to find some patience in our rebuild. I wish others would.

Why you ask?

 

[lsd]

I honestly cannot fathom how a United fan who has experienced say the success we have had under Fergie could be depressed.

Nothing lasts forever but if you are good enough and big enough you can get back to the top again.

Eventually United will get it right again and when they do no one will care about the lows

 

[RedDevilzFox]

Boring directionless (aka Zombie) football "depresses" me more than lack of trophies or the modern entitled footballer. It would be nice to have a committed group of players that eat, sleep and drink football and are fans of the club you support, but it is easy to forget they are also just humans and may have no emotional attachment to the club the way fans do. Its a job to most of them.

Of the 4 managers we've had since Ferguson, I must say Ole has been the least boring and directionless and that's saying something given I feel Ole really have no real philosophy or approach to how United should play the game.

 

[Bilbo]

Yeah. Fergie was appointed the year I was born, all I know is United success, having seen us win every single trophy physically available to us I use that to find some patience in our rebuild. I wish others would.

Why you ask?

You definitely go against the grain here. Its the Fergie generation that I usually associate with the entitlement and lack of patience thats causing all of this current fuss. Perhaps I'm wrong about that

 

[SirAnderson]

I find it fascinating that I can't feel the same way about any other club like I do Manchester United. These passed 7-8 years have been a terrible experience as a fan, during which I've added many other teams as my glory fan team, RM, Bayern, Juve etc, who I knew won regularly (depending on the competition), but watching all those matches, and trying to cheer them on or see them lose, never makes me feel the way it does with United. I know that is probably "obvious", but I genuinely didn't think I cared so much about a club that doesn't even know I exist. Put's things in perspective but at the same time, still fascinates me how much it can affect someone.

I guess after a while I have tried to numb myself so that it doesn't spoil my day/weekend etc, so now I will be fuming hours after the match, sometimes the morning, but then I block it out until the next match and go into it with 0 expectations.

 

[Bondi77]

Yeah. Fergie was appointed the year I was born, all I know is United success, having seen us win every single trophy physically available to us I use that to find some patience in our rebuild. I wish others would.

Why you ask?

In those years of success was your depression at a low level given you would have experienced plenty of highs following Utd?
From my perspective I have been a Utd fan for years and have seen them play in the old division 2 and have had plenty of highs but it has always really pissed me off not so much when we lose but when we play badly.

 

[YouOnlyLiveTwice]

No. Redcafe on the other hand..

I used to be just as bad as the current moaners on here, but these days i don't get as upset.
Having a former player legend as manager and known people in the staff doing the rebuild is exciting to me. I actually like most of our players and rate them.

We have a lot of work to do of course, and it may come crashing down fast, but i'm in for the ride.

 

[MoskvaRed]

Not sure about depressed but I find we have shrunk as a club. I grew up with Liverpool winning every year but United still believed they should be at the top and that the Liverpool dominance was an aberration. Now it’s endless bs about rebuilds and meekly accepting City (or Liverpool) are miles ahead while being led by a pliant but hopelessly under-qualified manager.

 

[Hughie77]

Depressed, by the crap that's being talked about maybe, I'm a cup half full guy usually, results are ok, performances are subject at present. I was remembering the 99 season in my own head the other day, and bloody hell it was a roller coaster, it was exciting, we need that back the closeness of every game , penalty saves wonder goals with 10 men , last day win from behind, 2 goals in 90mins plus , that's what I like, not the parade of winning a title by 20 pts, and getting to cup finals against teams you know your going to beat.

This is following Manchester United, it shouldn't make you depressed, it should want you to follow the team even more, because we are a proper club, with class unlike a lot of those who have bought success.

 

[Dirty Schwein]

In the past 5 years or so, I've become indifferent to us losing games. Sadly, I've lost interest in modern football in general. Part of the problem is that I don't really like many of our players. I don't like the attitude of most modern footballers, who seem more interested in their bank account, social media accounts and brands than caring about the club they play for and giving 100% every game. Don't get me started on VAR either. With the way the game is going (and United), I doubt I'll get that interest back any time soon.

Yes, I'm aware this sounds like an old man yelling at the clouds.

This is why I've started following the championship more. Find it more interesting.

 

[RUCK4444]

In those years of success was your depression at a low level given you would have experienced plenty of highs following Utd?
From my perspective I have been a Utd fan for years and have seen them play in the old division 2 and have had plenty of highs but it has always really pissed me off not so much when we lose but when we play badly.

I’ve had depression from late teens onwards, some times worse than others but childhood growing up and being lucky enough to have watched us during our most successful period was brilliant.

United have always been an escape, something to look forward to, as it is for most football fans and their clubs. I’m acutely aware we were spoilt under SAF. I agree it’s not the loss necessarily but more the way we play, the intent to attack etc.

I don’t like to link too much between sport and ones mental state but it’s just a day to day factor (one of many) that does affect your mood so inevitably it has its own influence.

 

[RUCK4444]

Depressed, by the crap that's being talked about maybe, I'm a cup half full guy usually, results are ok, performances are subject at present. I was remembering the 99 season in my own head the other day, and bloody hell it was a roller coaster, it was exciting, we need that back the closeness of every game , penalty saves wonder goals with 10 men , last day win from behind, 2 goals in 90mins plus , that's what I like, not the parade of winning a title by 20 pts, and getting to cup finals against teams you know your going to beat.

This is following Manchester United, it shouldn't make you depressed, it should want you to follow the team even more, because we are a proper club, with class unlike a lot of those who have bought success.

Good post. This is how I see it and how I try to approach it.

Where we are currently is a sight less depressing than it has been at times since SAF left.

 

[Cloud7]

Nope, but they certainly don’t offer me any joy either, which at the end of the day is what football is supposed to bring you, happiness and an escape from the day to day perils of life.

 

[KD6-3.7]

Not anymore. A couple of seasons ago I basically emotionally withdrew myself from United because they were ruining my weekends and sleeping pattern most of all. So now I rarely catch the games live (I’m a shift worker who lives in Australia so sleep is more important then staying up at 3am) mainly I watch the replays later on.

Yes it sucks right now because we aren’t even challenging for the big trophies and honestly I’ve accepted that we just aren’t at that level. But what has bothered me the most is the atrocious brand of football we play, it sucks any enjoyment I used to get when watching United, it’s basically a chore nowadays.

 

[Ali Dia]

I'd go one step further and ask these depressed fans to imagine what the football supporting life is like for a Stoke fan, or a Colchester fan, or a Norwich fan or a Reading fan or etc etc etc

If you are tying up your enjoyment level of United so closely to our success, then in my opinion you're not even really a fan of football as much as you are a fan of winning.

To those people I would ask them to try to imagine the type of person that devotedly follows any of the other 85 clubs in this country that don't regularly win trophies. What drives those people to go to games year after year knowing that the ceiling of their clubs potential is largely set in stone, and that closure is as likely as a cup final would ever be.

We are all lucky to be United supporters. We've seen unmatched success in our lifetimes. A hundred fantastic nights, and we didn't have to do a thing to earn it, yet this thread is full of posters who 'can't really be arsed to watch us (on the TV, for free, in their armchair) at the moment' because we are 2nd! It's really not a good look for our fanbase.

couldn’t say it better.

Things aren’t even that bad relatively speaking. Remember the djemba djemba days and Alan Smith in midfield. We are going to be in the champions league next year and we have one of the best players in the league playing for us. We have 40 million Donny and 40 million Diallo on the bench who could improve a lot. Glass half full! I could never tie my happiness to the decisions a few invisible suits make in America.They drive me daft but at the end of the day they are spending more than enough money to have a good team. We just need to find the right personnel, takes time. I was thinking there of 2 of my uncles. One supports Forrest and the other Derby. They were both supposedly good back when they were young. Imagine a lifetime of being stuck with Derby or Forest? Going over to England to championship/first division matches and them losing? Now that’s depressing!

 

[anant]

You definitely go against the grain here. Its the Fergie generation that I usually associate with the entitlement and lack of patience thats causing all of this current fuss. Perhaps I'm wrong about that

Pretty sure this is down to people's patience levels I believe. I was born well into Fergie's reign, started watching football during RVN days, and honestly, I have no issue with the manager. As long as you can see foundations getting stronger, progress in the current players, I'm more than happy

 

[Fitchett]

I used to enjoy listening to United on the radio back in the day - 105.4 Century FM I think it was with Mickey Thomas and somebody else who's name I can't remember! May try your suggestion (Not for the City game though )

Steve Bower, Gary Weaver. Both do occasional TV commentaries now.

 

[Darlington Padgett]

Go and watch this you noveau plastic cvnts:
And then feck off and support City or Chelsea.

So, I guess being a United fan is accepting 2 wins in 10 games now. If you're not happy with that, you're a plastic fan?

 

[Silverman]

The blind loyalty to Ole is embarrassing.
He seems like a great guy and definitely deserves respect but there is nothing wrong if you feel that he isn't the man for the job.

 

[Steve Bruce]

Sh



shut up and watch American “sport”

Weird post, I don't know how I got this response & not sure how to respond to it.

However, I'll make an attempt & make it simple.



Prick!

 

[Waynne]

Yes.

We have all the money in the world but we've been waisting it so therefore knowing that we can get in the best personnel but instead get in old players and staff to run the football side is depressing as hell.

I love Ole, Darren, Carrick etc. I truely do but they have no business at the club trying to push us forward.

You're not going to win the EPL or champions League with Ole. That is fact.
We've become complacent since Saf. Happy to be there or thereabouts, never to win or dominate or establish ourselves as the new benchmarks and it's sickening.

 

[Bondi77]

I’ve had depression from late teens onwards, some times worse than others but childhood growing up and being lucky enough to have watched us during our most successful period was brilliant.

United have always been an escape, something to look forward to, as it is for most football fans and their clubs. I’m acutely aware we were spoilt under SAF. I agree it’s not the loss necessarily but more the way we play, the intent to attack etc.

I don’t like to link too much between sport and ones mental state but it’s just a day to day factor (one of many) that does affect your mood so inevitably it has its own influence.

No worries mate,
Thanks for sharing that and all I can say is I hope in the future we can play a brand of football that lifts us all to a good state of mind for however long that lasts.

 

[Bilbo]

So, I guess being a United fan is accepting 2 wins in 10 games now

Yes, it is. You have no choice other than to accept it because there isn't a thing that you can do about it and this club owes you nothing at all

 

[Feed Me]

Feck getting depressed over football. Life is hard enough as it is!

 

[LovelyLittlePanda]

I don't think United makes anyone depressed who doesn't already have issues. It's easy to get that impression if you take the negativity on the Caf too seriously. Most of it is just fans venting their frustration. A few truly depressed individuals and plastic fans here and there. Covid isn't doing our joint mental health any favours.

There's a lot of entitlement among us, and too often it's confused for "low standards".

Go and watch this you noveau plastic cvnts:
And then feck off and support City or Chelsea.

Is this Olesensual for "let's not criticise a manager because he was a good player"?
Makes sense, I guess we all know every good player makes for a good manager

 

[Litch]

Football? Would never emotionally invest to that degree for it to impact in that way. My emotional intelligence is greater than that. Any time you feel that way, just think of the players and manager driving home 'angry' in their 100k Ranges, to their 5 mil gated property's greeted by their model wives and getting into their swimming pools to 'cool' off......

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Go and watch this you noveau plastic cvnts:
And then feck off and support City or Chelsea.

What the feck happened in here for this outburst?

 

[Suspicious Swelling]

Not anymore. A couple of seasons ago I basically emotionally withdrew myself from United because they were ruining my weekends and sleeping pattern most of all. So now I rarely catch the games live (I’m a shift worker who lives in Australia so sleep is more important then staying up at 3am) mainly I watch the replays later on.

Yes it sucks right now because we aren’t even challenging for the big trophies and honestly I’ve accepted that we just aren’t at that level. But what has bothered me the most is the atrocious brand of football we play, it sucks any enjoyment I used to get when watching United, it’s basically a chore nowadays.

This pretry much sums up how I feel. Depression is a very strong word and I have never been depressed because of United but I used to get more down and frustrated in the Moyes and Van Gaal eras than I do now. Sadly i have kind of got used to seeing us not really challenge for things aside from the odd cup competition. Thats not to say i dont still get pissed off with losing, watching us play crap football or being really inconsistent but sadly it has become more normal than success.

A bit of perspective though, being born in 85 i have basically only known the Sir Alex era for most of my life so i cant really complain in the grand scheme of things. We have been treated to a ridiculous amount of success over the last 30 years which millions of fans in this country and across the globe could only dream of. I really hope that football doesnt make make many of you actually depressed because at the end of the day it is just a game played by multi millionaires, many of whom seem out of touch with reality, and there is so much more to life out there than letting fooball run your life. It can be difficult at times, but hopefully better times will return soon!

 

[EngimaMK]

Football? Would never emotionally invest to that degree for it to impact in that way. My emotional intelligence is greater than that. Any time you feel that way, just think of the players and manager driving home 'angry' in their 100k Ranges, to their 5 mil gated property's greeted by their model wives and getting into their swimming pools to 'cool' off......

100% agreed. If you spend all day thinking about United, posting on here, watching Man Utd videos and feel your mental health is inextricably linked to the performance of the team, then you need a sense of perspective (and perhaps the advice of a mental health professional).

These are barely even recognisable as local football clubs any more... They are multi million (billion?) dollar businesses that care not one iota about you, other than whether they get a few quid of your hard-earned. Don't tie your happiness and esteem to such an entity.

After decades at the top, we are now "one of" the top teams in the country but undoubtedly our era of dominance has subsided somewhat. Is it frustrating and would I like to see it back? Of course. However, no team can be perpetually successful and in the grand scheme of things, our struggles right now are really not that egregious.

Finally, if you find that worrying about football is affecting your mental health, then I urge you to do something about it because that isn't in any way healthy.

 

[Smores]

couldn’t say it better.

Things aren’t even that bad relatively speaking. Remember the djemba djemba days and Alan Smith in midfield. We are going to be in the champions league next year and we have one of the best players in the league playing for us. We have 40 million Donny and 40 million Diallo on the bench who could improve a lot. Glass half full! I could never tie my happiness to the decisions a few invisible suits make in America.They drive me daft but at the end of the day they are spending more than enough money to have a good team. We just need to find the right personnel, takes time. I was thinking there of 2 of my uncles. One supports Forrest and the other Derby. They were both supposedly good back when they were young. Imagine a lifetime of being stuck with Derby or Forest? Going over to England to championship/first division matches and them losing? Now that’s depressing!

Not really, it's a nonsense comparison whenever it's made. Most people support other sporting individuals/teams and may have even supported other lower level football teams, they don't expect trophies across all of them.

Expectations are usually just to progress and perform within limitations. For united our meaningful progression is towards trophies, that's not spoilt it's just our own context and we have the capabilites to get there so we measure success against it.

Whether it's LvG or Ole we've had fans talk us down to the level of a club that can only dare dream of trophies if everything goes right in a long drawn out strategy. Basically reducing us to Spurs.

We're not one of those clubs though, for us this is underachieving no matter how comforting it might be to move the goal posts and pretend it's all part of slow progression.

 

[Lappen]

Football? Would never emotionally invest to that degree for it to impact in that way. My emotional intelligence is greater than that. Any time you feel that way, just think of the players and manager driving home 'angry' in their 100k Ranges, to their 5 mil gated property's greeted by their model wives and getting into their swimming pools to 'cool' off......

What would you invest in emotionally in a degree that you go crazy happy for at least one time every week. And don't say your family, thats obvious.

You know its there job, just like you have a job. Sometimes people personalise them as the librarian, the carpenter or the footballer... and sometimes they don't. This is one of the reasons people losing there job fall in depression, and that dosent make them more or less emotionally intelligent.

 

[MikeKing]

What would you invest in emotionally in a degree that you go crazy happy for at least one time every week. And don't say your family, thats obvious.

You know its there job, just like you have a job. Sometimes people personalise them as the librarian, the carpenter or the footballer... and sometimes they don't. This is one of the reasons people losing there job fall in depression, and that dosent make them more or less emotionally intelligent.

You are onto something here.

 

[Tom Cato]

The fans are making me more depressed than the club or it’s players. We have a toxic fanbase.

Quoting this post from last year since it reflects my sentiment perfectly. Its always in times when the players need the fans support more than anything, that the fans will turn on the players. It's genuinely the absolute worst part of football fandom.

 

[MackRobinson]

What would you invest in emotionally in a degree that you go crazy happy for at least one time every week. And don't say your family, thats obvious.

You know its there job, just like you have a job. Sometimes people personalise them as the librarian, the carpenter or the footballer... and sometimes they don't. This is one of the reasons people losing there job fall in depression, and that dosent make them more or less emotionally intelligent.

It actually does. If something specific is making you depressed and you are aware, it takes emotional intelligence to avoid or remove that said thing. As a fan, sports are supposed to be a welcome distraction from the real world (family, job, health, etc). When it ceases to become that, it's time to find another outlet.

 

[abraz79]

The more passionate we are about the Club and football, the more its pains become our pains.
Also, even if we consider it's silly to feel bad or disapointed with the club results and politics (hey, it's only football!), we are human. Having emotional link to something makes us feel more about that something. And if we're exposed to negative results and politics, those are negative thoughts and emotions we feel. And if they become regular, it affects us.

I guess we just have to learn to deal with it, give it another perspective and concentrate on positive things.
Be selective and moderate about the social networks you navigate through. Nowadays, most people use it to vent their rage, frustrations or whatever, inconsiderate of there being other human beings with feelings. So the less you expose yourself to negative circles, the better.

 

[Tom Cato]

Football? Would never emotionally invest to that degree for it to impact in that way. My emotional intelligence is greater than that. Any time you feel that way, just think of the players and manager driving home 'angry' in their 100k Ranges, to their 5 mil gated property's greeted by their model wives and getting into their swimming pools to 'cool' off......

Surely you know that "depressed" is used figuratively here. Your emotional intelligence won't save you from actual depression.

When people say depressed about results, they actually mean "bummed".

Using other peoples success and turn to envy as a tool to deal with the onset of being bummed, is not a great coping mechanism. This is in the same street as fans attacking players on social media and it somehow being ok because they earn more money than them.

Emotional maturity would be the ability to allow yourself to ride both the ups and downs of results, without it impacting your daily life. It's perfectly ok to feel. How you disperse with your reaction to your surroundings define how mature you are.

Its perfectly fine to both be happy and sad about results and games, it's part of the experience of being emotionally invested in something. And if you're not emotionally invested in a football club you support, then what is the goddamn point?

 

[Tom Cato]

It actually does. If something specific is making you depressed and you are aware, it takes emotional intelligence to avoid or remove that said thing. As a fan, sports are supposed to be a welcome distraction from the real world (family, job, health, etc). When it ceases to become that, it's time to find another outlet.

I'm replying to this since you suggested that people can just reason themselves out of a rut of sadness when they lose their job. This is just not true. Clinical depression is such a fantastically complex issue that we don't even know how to cure it. Only how to treat the symptoms and put a patient on a path to remission.

There are litearlly hundreds of factors, man of them biological, that decide how you can process certain types of emtional stress. Some people simply do not have a choice in how their body reacts. It pisses me off to no end when people will go to lengths to suggest that people can just think it away. That is not how any of that works.