We are all vulnerable

We cannot and should not speculate on the circumstances behind Speed's tragic death. But some have compared it to those of other footballers who have taken their own lives following battles with depression.

This is inevitable. There is nothing wrong with it. Such is the profound shock over the passing of the Wales manager that it is understandable to search for ways of describing and explaining the apparently inexplicable.

In time, perhaps, something might emerge which helps to explain Gary Speed's death. Until then, a debate about mental health in the world of sport is likely to continue.

This is welcome. It is a macho world. Whatever the reasons for Speed's death, greater recognition of the frailties of the human condition when faced with tough challenge is no bad thing. The ex-player Stan Collymore's openness about his depression, for instance, has helped in this sense.

The pressures of sport at the highest level must be significant - the expectations of supporters,  the sense of the eyes of the world bearing down via hundreds of camera angles. The potential isolation, the pressure to perform.

It is certain, therefore, that whatever the reason for Speed's apparent suicide, given these stresses there are hundreds of professional sportsmen and women suffering from mental illness. Perhaps there is a danger here though; that the depression is explained just by the sport and its demands. Certainly such a relatively unusual profession brings with it demands which most of us are spared.

But it might be too simple to blame the sport. It might just be that instead of being a former footballer Stan Collymore would still be fighting depression if he was a teacher, a builder or a banker. Better, perhaps, to recognise that whoever we are, whatever we do, we are all vulnerable. Removing the stresses and strains of a clearly demanding world would not necessarily remove the susceptibility to mental health problems.

And we might better understand mental illness, and reduce the stigma which stops so many people from seeking the help which can save their lives, if we face that reality.