Soccer As A Road To Recovery

Soccer-Mad Italians Create League That Serves As Therapy For Mentally Ill Patients

(CBS)  To say that Italy is "soccer mad" is to seriously understate the case, but on a field in Rome, Italy, the sport is actually therapy for mental illness, reports CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey.

Some of these players are delusional, others schizophrenic or depressive. Most are on medication. But soccer is the treatment many think works best.

"It's a good therapy," says Danielle. "It gives me a goal to reach."

Twenty-three year-old Marco Gabbianno wants to tell everyone his story.

"It's my website," he says. "Personal website."

There was a time when the world terrified him.

"I go in the city and I was like, so uuuhhh... I don't know what is happening to me," recalls Gabbianno. "And the football make you stay with other persons that can help you and say no, you are okay, you are good."

The Gabbianno or Seagull Football Club is one of 40 teams in Italy made up of people with mental illnesses. They play twice a week and learn more than football.

"They become ah, able to stay in a group, to have a match and to win but also to lose," says Dr. Guisseppe Luoni, a psychiatrist.

They also became TV stars in a documentary called "Crazy for Football," adds Pizzey.

It was made by two young film makers who came to the soccer ground looking for elements for a screenplay. But the first thing screenwriter Francesco Trento heard convinced him the plot, the dialogue, and the stars were right in front him.

"A schizophrenic that tell to the others don't yell at me because I already heard voices all day long so I came here just to stop them and if you add yours, it's, it's really worse," says Trento.

Benedetto, a big defender, is not a guy you'd want to argue with, except that curbing aggression is another by-product of soccer therapy.

The passion that is part of Italian soccer is of course considered quite normal, as long as it stays verbal. To play in this league you must be able to control violent tendencies.

Maybe a few professional sportsmen could benefit from a game or two here.