Double British Touring Car Champion and now team owner Jason Plato has become a high-profile mental health advocate in the sporting arena over the last year, after going through an intense rehabilitation period which he publicly admits he could not have faced without the assistance of the motorsport community.
Jason concedes that he struggled with the concept of seeking help for his condition: “It was a combination of factors,” he explains. “In my racing career there were pitfalls and brick walls every week of every year, so I thought I was pretty resilient. I completely underestimated the effect that retirement – a choice I had made – would have on me. Some other things came along at the same time and my wife decided she wanted to end our marriage. I was in a spiral dive and I didn’t want to speak to anybody probably because I felt ashamed that on my watch, everything had gone bang.
“It didn’t happen overnight, it got worse and I didn’t want to speak to anyone because I was ashamed of who I was, I started to take all the mirrors down, didn’t leave the house, didn’t answer the phone, didn’t do anything.”
Jason also admits to suicide attempts, the second prompting him to seek medical help but he found the antidepressants weren’t helping. He went to see a psychiatrist who suggested that he needed “a newer adrenaline.”
It was at this point that Jason found the value of his motorsport community: “My dear pal Penny Mallory went through a similar situation with TV work drying up and she found keynote speaking. I’ve got a bit of experience to stand up in front of lots of sponsors, guests, and I’ve done telly for years, so I thought this could be good.
“I was also being pushed by [motorsport PR] Deborah Tee to go to the MotorSport Magazine centenary dinner and I bumped into my pal Ross Brawn at the end of the night. He gave me a hug, we had a chat and he said, ‘I’ll sort it all out, just meet this guy I’ve worked with before. But if he’s not the right man, we’ll find someone else’.”
Jason instantly clicked with Mike Kelly and the pair worked on a keynote speech in four parts, beginning with his racing history and TV work, then bringing the story up to date. “Part three is where I dropped the bomb,” Jason explains. “It’s really powerful. And then quadrant four is what I’m doing now and it brings it full circle. After spending six months working on this, I wasn’t ashamed of any of it anymore. I viewed it as part of my story.”
By going public on his mental health struggles, Jason feels more liberated and ready for new challenges, including his British Touring Car Championship team. He’s also comfortable in his role as mental health advocate: “I think that’s the beauty of my story, in that it might be able to help people in that hour. I’m in a much better place in my work, because I’ve got intensity back in my life and I’m busy. The other positive thing is, I’ve learned an awful lot about myself.
“When I was in a race car, I wanted an aura around me and that works brilliantly for my brand but it comes at a cost, as you end up having a lonely life because you don’t let people into it. I’ve got the most amazing response from people, it’s been a really brilliant thing. It was almost like an epiphany, like I’ve read this wrong.”
Jason is also ready to offer advice to others struggling with mental health: “Go and see a professional, whether that be a doctor, psychiatrist or therapist and go and see a few; if that one didn’t work try something else.
“The other piece of advice is let your dear friends in and don’t be ashamed. Really, don’t be ashamed. My little soundbite now is it’s okay to be wonky, it’s okay to be in a mess. But it’s not okay not to do anything about it. And that’s probably the biggest lesson I learned from it.”
The next edition of Revolution magazine will include a feature on how our community can provide a positive influence on mental health. Find your community using our Club Finder tool here and click here for a list of organisations that can assist with mental health.
Click here to watch Plato Racing All or Nothing on ITVX