Saints fans seeing mental health boost from winning team

NEW ORLEANS -- Decorating homes, hanging from businesses and proudly sported by fans -- Saints pride is on display all over town.

"I'm feeling great right now. Fantastic!" said Saints fan Oscar Jiles, who was shopping at the Black and Gold Shop in Metairie.

"I think that everyone in the city is happy," said Stephanie Bassett, who wore her Saints jersey Uptown on Monday. "It's taken their minds off things, their work and their stress, and it's a time to have fun."

Yet, Saints fever may be more than an excuse to celebrate: it may also be having an emotional effect on our health. Mental health experts are comparing the emotions surrounding the Saints-Falcons game, with that of the Saints playoff run in 2006.

"I think you can sense the upbeat nature in the city," said Amy Dickson, PsyD, a clinical psychologist with the LSU Health Sciences Center.

Dickson said a winning team can equal a winning mentality for fans in other aspects of their lives.

"It's a real boost for people's functioning in the city," she said.

In a city that has had its own challenges with functionality, the Saints could be providing a needed morale booster.

"The Saints, in many ways, are a god-send to this community," said Charles Figley, a professor who specializes in disaster trauma at Tulane University's School of Social Work .

Figley said the Saints-Falcons game of 2009 shares some characteristics with the Saints playoff run of 2006, in terms of its effect on the city's psyche.

"The difference between 2006 and 2009 is like night and day, to the extent of the context. But it's exactly the same with regard to the need for a boost," Figley said. "Insurance companies, FEMA, the Corps of Engineers-- there are a lot of things that bring us together in a negative way. But the Saints have brought us together in a positive way."

It's a positive feeling shared by Saints fans all around.

"Me, being away from home, it definitely means a lot to me -- it gives me bragging rights," said Derek Joseph, a Saints fan who flew from Washington D.C. to New Orleans to see the Saints-Falcons game.

"I think that's very important, especially after everything that's happened, the hurricane and all that -- that people don't give up hope," Bassett said. "And I think that they're living that through the Saints."

Even if the Saints lose at some point in the season, mental health experts believe a defeat may not be so hard on fans, in part because of the winning season the team has had so far.

"If the city feels they play really well and really hard and we have one loss, I don't know if that's going to defeat us entirely," Dickson said. "We're one of the very few teams out there that's undefeated, and that's an incredible feeling."