AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan says Chris Yarran will continue to receive the league's support after his retirement to deal with mental health issues.
The 25-year-old joined Richmond in a trade from Carlton at the end of the 2015 season, but battled mental illness and left Punt Road on Tuesday without playing a game.
"We're aware of it and we work hard, but you're always going to have incredibly sad and difficult circumstances, like those with Chris Yarran," McLachlan said of the AFL's approach to tackling mental health.
"We've got to make sure that the support is ongoing as he exits our industry and as prevalent as it has been at Richmond and Carlton before that."
Yarran played 119 AFL games with the Blues before being traded for draft pick No.19 in a move Richmond defended on Wednesday.
Reece McKenzie left the club for similar reasons this year, while Sydney's Lance Franklin, Fremantle's Cam McCarthy and Geelong's Mitch Clark have also had well-publicised mental health battles in the past.
"Clearly, it's a big issue in our game - we know that," McLachlan said.
"Whether it's been Chris Yarran or others who have gone public this year, there are also numbers that show a number of players, that are not known about broadly, suffer from mental illness in various forms.
"It's a real issue ... we work with the experts on the right approach.
"All the clubs have incredible player welfare approaches and have people specifically tasked to deal with it on a daily basis."
