Beyondblue chairman Jeff Kennett fears athletes may feel ridiculed if they speak up about their mental health after an English cricketer made headlines for suffering stress.
England batsman Jonathan Trott withdrew from the Ashes tour of Australia on Monday after revealing he had a stress-related illness.
Mr Kennett has slammed headlines about the cricketer, calling them ignorant and derogatory.
"For every Jonathan Trott, there are hundreds of sportsmen and women in the same position, with the same condition, who now may feel if they seek help they're going to be ridiculed," the head of the mental health charity said.
He said the coverage of Trott's departure is disappointing and shows there's a long way to go on educating people on how to report on mental illness.
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"If Jonathan Trott had returned to the UK for a physical injury you would not have got these headlines today," he said on Tuesday.
He said the comments were unfortunate, uncalled for and uneducated.
"Because it's a mental health illness or a stress-related illness, some in the media have seen fit to actually mock him and his illness."
Mr Kennett said it was positive that Trott felt comfortable sharing that he was suffering from stress.
"Ten or 15 years ago a sportsman would have been told to hang in there or be dropped, they wouldn't disclose they had a stress-related illness," he said.
He said the blame did not lie with Australian cricketer David Warner and the Aussie team.
He said many elite Australian sportsman suffered from stress, whether they play AFL, netball or soccer.
Mr Kennett commended Trott and the English cricket team management for taking the action needed to ensure he gets the help he needs to regain good health and hopefully return to the cricket pitch.
