How do male professional athletes in team sports experience, respond to and cope with depression during their careers?

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This study explores the experiences of professional male athletes who have sufferedwith depression during their careers. This area is incompletely understood and under theorised. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport have recently released a 'Mental Health and Elite Sport Action Plan' aimed at providing enhanced support to elite athletes who are experiencing mental health difficulty. High quality research istherefore required to better understand the phenomenon and deliver this plan.The research will take an interpretative phenomenological approach. This will involvein-depth interviews, in combination with visual elicitation and vignettes, with 40professional male athletes who have experienced depression during their careers (inFootball, Rugby Union, Rugby League and Cricket). Additionally, 30 interviews with mental health professionals who support male professional athletes will be undertaken. Interviews with athletes will focus on exploring experiences of depression, and interviews with mental health practitioners will explore the common support needs of depressed male professional athletes, and characteristics of successful intervention. The reflections of these two populations will facilitate a holistic perspective of the issue and support impactful intervention development. This investigation will advance academic understanding of the experiences of male professional athletes who have struggled with depression, and shed light on their support networks, and barriers and facilitators of timely help-seeking behaviour. Findings will inform early-intervention and best-practice for mental health professionalsworking with depressed male athletes and make a clear policy contribution through qualitative evidence that can aid the delivery of the 'Mental Health and Elite Sport Action Plan'.