As St Kilda’s Jack Steven becomes the latest AFL footballer to step away from the game for the sake of his mental health, eminent sports psychologist Jeff Bond fears that the campaign to raise awareness of the importance of mental health has become a victim of its own success.

“I think we might have overcooked it a touch,” Bond said on Wednesday. “We all suffer from depression. It’s a matter of whether it’s debilitating or not. It’s too easy to say it’s mental health.”

Bond said that as management of footballers became more sophisticated, clubs needed to upgrade the role of development officer. “Most development officers are ex-players,” he said. “I think they should be psychologists, sports psychologists. I know clubs have gotten a hell of a lot better over the years, but I still think there’s a way to go.” He was not pitching for work; he is semi-retired.

Jack Steven. Credit:Morgan Hancock

Bond stressed that he knew nothing about Steven’s case, and was not trivialising it. Rather, he was addressing a trend. He said that when he started out at the Australian Institute of Sport nearly 40 years ago, “people would cross the road to avoid me”.