News of Aaron Lennon’s detainment under the Mental Health Act prompted a swell of support for the Everton winger.
The 30-year-old player was taken into hospital where he is “receiving care and treatment for a stress-related illness”, according to a statement from Everton.
Of course, this is a big story and everyone wishes Lennon a speedy recovery, but one positive outcome is that this has prompted conversations about dealing with mental health and supporting those who are struggling with illness.
Not so, it seems, for the Daily Mail, who appear to be more concerned with Lennon’s wage packet then his health.
It doesn’t take much reading between the lines to see what the Mail are trying to say here.
However, Twitter users were quick to point out that Lennon’s salary has absolutely nothing to do with his health, and that mental illness affects everyone, rich or poor.
Why is his salary at all relevant in this headline!?!
— Matt Timblin (@matt_timblin) May 3, 2017
In fact…why is this even a headline. We should be de-stigmatising mental illness…not sensationalizing it in headlines @heads_together
— Matt Timblin (@matt_timblin) May 3, 2017
how is his salary relevant? Surely only thing that matters in this is his health?!
— Josh Franceschi (@joshmeatsix) May 3, 2017
Does his 55k wage make it unacceptable to have a mental health issue? #idiots
— Scott Burns (@burnsy5shoes) May 3, 2017
https://twitter.com/ephemeraljoy/status/859665462619189248
Completely unnecessary to include this man's salary in your report. It has no relevance to this very sad news whatsoever
— Michelle Ewen (@MichelleEwen_) May 3, 2017
Over 300 people replied to the single tweet, expressing their outrage and condemning the paper for focusing on his wage in a story about mental health.
Some would argue that this is hardly surprising and this kind of headline is typical of the Mail, but when so much is being done to try and tackle the stigma surrounding mental illness, it’s important to call this kind of behaviour out.
