Blessing in disguise
Former CFL player talks mental health
Kirsten Fenn
Northern News Services
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Shea Emry considers himself a fighter. Despite living through childhood abuse and the ups and downs of depression, the former CFL player sees his experiences as a blessing.
Former CFL player Shea Emry talks mental health at the Explorer Hotel on Oct. 6 in support of Mental Illness Awareness Week. - Kirsten Fenn/NNSL photo |
"The one thing this gift of trauma gave me was perspective," Emry said to a full house at the Explorer Hotel on Thursday night. "It not only made me a better athlete but gave me this internal fire."
The two-time Grey Cup champion visited Yellowknife last week to share his story as part of a talk hosted by Northwestel for Mental Illness Awareness Week, which was marked from Oct. 2 to 8.
He told the crowd about how society's expectations about masculinity shaped his behaviour as he entered the world of professional football eight years ago.
The now-retired linebacker for the Montreal Alouettes, Toronto Argonauts and Saskatchewan Roughriders said he quickly learned to put up a facade.
"I had all these other passions and experiences," Emry said.
But they didn't fit into the tough persona of a football star. When a concussion sidelined him in 2011, Emry was suddenly lost.
He wondered who he was without the game and fell into a bout of depression as he spent months holed up in his room recovering.
"I didn't have an identity," Emry said to the room.
That's when he realized: "If you don't diversify your identity . . . then you're going to be lost."
Now, Emry uses his platform as an athlete to encourage others to explore different passions and challenge hyper-masculine stereotypes by showing their vulnerable side.
Besides giving dozens of talks across the country, he helps empower men through his organization Wellmen, which offers outdoor adventures that focus on mindfulness and reconnecting with the outdoors.
The point is to stop and think about the language we use when discussing mental health, he said.
"When someone says, 'Hi, how are you doing?'" we shouldn't feel ashamed to say we're not OK, he said.
"Without the health of the mind, you can't have the health of the body. And without the health of the body you can't have the health of the mind," Emry said.
By sharing his own story, he said he hopes to normalize those conversations.
"I've had an amazing life and I'm happy. Sometimes I go up, sometimes I go down," he said.
"I'm just a man with an experience who's willing to talk about it."
