It's been a reasonably eventful few weeks in the life of Mayo’s Padraig O’Hora.
Before Christmas he had surgery on an ankle injury and, as a result, he will miss the first few games of Mayo’s Allianz League campaign, which starts at home to Galway on Saturday.
This month, as well as reaching the landmark of 30 years of age, he has had the feature that identifies him above all others removed as his long, flowing hair was cut. It was a very worthwhile venture too as it helped raise around €7,000 for the LauraLynn Children’s Hospice.
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There was a practical side to it as well. A clip emerged last October of a Claremorris opponent yanking O’Hora back by the hair as he broke through in possession for Ballina Stephenites and too often opponents saw his locks as fair game.
“Yeah, it's happened a few times alright,” he smiled. “That was probably the most memorable one alright, he took a few strands for himself.
“It was more, look, I have three girls in my house; my partner and my two kids, two girls, and I have the longest hair of the lot of them. It was kind of getting to the stage where it needed to go anyway.”
But while hairstyles come and go and his ankle will be right as rain in a few weeks, how he manages his mental health is consistent and ongoing.
O’Hora, who is a community liaison officer for the Mayo Mental Health Association, outlined how he had to confront his own issues a couple of years ago and, having come out the other side of it, adopted a prevention over cure approach.
"I think it's a constant journey. I definitely feel back on track but would feel that it's a constant personal development thing I need to be aware of, conscious of and that I need to check in with.
“I haven't stopped counselling. I don't see why you would. I was always under the impression that you go to see a counsellor to get support when you need it, but the science kind of says, 'Why wouldn't you be preventative prior to issues arising?'
“I found it so beneficial when I needed it. I kind of kept that going. I feel like I'm in a good place but I do think it's certainly a constant journey. It's attached to your life as much as your general health is.
"I would definitely be checking in once a month at a minimum."
Despite his professional background, O’Hora still required quite a bit of prodding before seeking help for himself.
“I work in the mental health sector anyway, so you think I should probably know what to do, which I do, I give the advice to people and support people.
“But when it is you, it is quite difficult. The message that is always out there to speak to somebody, I don't think people realise how difficult that step is.
“For me, I had kinda gathered that things weren't right, after a number of weeks leading into months.
“I was meeting with a mate. We run a community group together. We do our meetings on the go - walking or something active. We were walking in the woods in Ballina. He just realised that something was slightly amiss and pressed me on it a little bit.
“I opened up to him and he was like, ‘You have to speak to somebody here, you know the craic, you know the advice’. I promised I would, but like most do, didn't follow through on the promise.
“He knew the craic, so he kinda kept on top of me. He asked me a couple of times after that, and then I did go and see my GP. Fortunately enough, I have a really good relationship with my GP, which made it a little bit easier.
“But once you speak up, once I sat down and said, I don't think I am right, I am not 100% sure what is wrong but I know I am not right, and we had a conversation, the weight was gone.
“You went from full of fear to somewhat empowered. Not in any way fixed or sorted or whatever you want to call it, but definitely more empowered. So it just went from there really.”
While fiercely committed, O’Hora doesn’t come across as one who takes his football too seriously and, in terms of his counselling, it’s “fairly irrelevant to it”.
"Football actually, I think, helps a lot with my mental health. Upon reflection, I'm a lot happier when I'm playing football than I am when I'm not.
“But it wouldn't be a subject in too much of the conversation. It would be very much about life experience, personal stuff and kind of development."
Indeed, an inter-county environment such as Mayo’s is an ideal one for weeding out mental health issues, O’Hora maintains.
"We've got a fantastic set-up actually, medically, and there's always a sports psychologist involved. Whether people would utilise that purely for performance or for more personal stuff, I'm not quite sure. But I do know the door is certainly open to do both.
“And again, the benefits of camaraderie and the group are always helpful too. When you're meeting with lads, it's probably a good space to have a conversation and they're also really good people to identify if you're on or off.
“You can very easily pick up on somebody maybe having a tough day or a tough week. I think it's of benefit to anybody really."
In November, Mayo’s efforts to break down another social stigma hit the rocks as the GAA ruled that they couldn’t wear rainbow-coloured numbers on their jerseys during this League campaign in a show of solidarity following an approach from Mindspace Mayo, a call which was met with frustration across the country.
“I work with Mayo Mental Health Association, so we work really closely with Mindspace,” O’Hora explained. “We even roll out a program that goes into the schools, so I work really closely with them. The work they do is top class, it is absolutely fantastic.
“They provide a wonderful service in Mayo. Maybe it was a missed opportunity. I don't understand what the politics were.
“If I was making the call, I would have given it the tick anyway.”
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