Double-edged sword in sports and health

"Is there a safe age for sports that put one at risk of head injuries? i read somewhere that as one gets older head injuries pose a bigger risk of a mental breakdown"

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I do not know what you have been reading recently but whatever it is, you have managed to pick up several ideas that intersect at different levels, in the process achieving some coherence, and at another level diverging so much that if one is not careful, one gets lost.

It is for example true that there is a relationship between some contact sports and head injury, which in turn is related to the development of some forms of dementia.

It is also true that physical exercise as occurs in those who do sports is promotive of good mental health, and indeed it is true that mental health experts advice people to do sports.

In this latter context, therefore, sports are good, while in the former context, there is some debate as to whether teenagers should head the ball in football, or whether anybody should be involved in boxing, and if yes, what are the risks involved and how, if at all can the risks be mitigated.

When he was Prime Minister, Raila Odinga was hospitalised at the Nairobi hospital and operated on for a condition we were told was a subdural Hematoma.

Following full recovery, and in a TV interview, he joked that his doctors had brainwashed him, meaning that they had removed a blood clot that had accumulated in the coverings of his brain, following trauma to the head in a minor accident.

This bold disclosure of his medical condition led to interesting conversations about several current affairs at the time.

The first and perhaps the most obvious was about the health of our political leaders and the extent to which public disclosure of their health may or may not be made.

For many years, politicians behaved as though they are superhuman and do not suffer from the same conditions that afflict the rest of us mortals. If one ever goes to hospital, then the matters of health become top secret and the issue is treated with utmost secrecy.

In this regard, Raila is a pace setter, as evidenced most recently when, unlike many others he came out in public with the fact that he was hospitalised for Covid-19. He was seen on TV isolating at home.

In other countries, such disclosures are a matter of course, as demonstrated by both President Trump, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Should we encourage those in authority to let us know more about their health in general? Would this be a good or a bad thing? Your question has brought this issue back to the table at this time when politics in our country is very hot.

If indeed politicians are normal people as we all are, then, they are prone to the same conditions that afflict the rest of us.

In his book, Downing Street Blues, Jonathan Davidson reports on the mental health of all past British prime ministers up to Tony Brown and finds many of them had mental health issues.

Some were said to have had dementia, others depression/anxiety, while others had alcoholism.

Sir Winston Churchill had classical Bipolar Mood Disorder and abused alcohol on and off for many years. He is still regarded with much adoration by historians of his day.

Just for the record, American Presidents had rates of mental health challenges like their British counterparts.

Apart from a small number of political leaders, matters of their mental health are suspected but not spoken about. Our world, however, is changing for the better.

Rachel Shebesh has become a trailblazer and advocate for mental health by coming out in public to tell the world that she has lived with Bipolar Mood Disorder, but that is not what defines as a human being. She is a wife, mother, sister, leader and a citizen with rights like all others.

More than anyone else in Kenya in the recent past, Shebesh has made self-disclosure one of the most powerful tools of dealing with the stigma of mental illness.

So, coming back to your question, and the relationship between age, sports and mental health, you can see that there are many possible permutations that are possible, some indicating the benefit of sports at all ages, for example promoting health in children and reducing obesity in childhood, all the way to the mental health benefits of exercise in those with dementia.

In between are the issues of boxing and rugby as causes of dementia in later life.

As we navigate this season of politics in Kenya, and as mental health claims its rightful position in the discussion table of national issues, some may want to follow the lead off Raila and Shebesh in declaring that after all, politicians are normal people when it comes to health matters.