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Athletes and Depression

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Athletes and Depression

The sports world is an extremely competitive place with the highs being so good that it can change an athlete's life, while the lows can be so devastating that they can lead to severe bouts of depression. A lot of top notch athletes have suffered with severe depression over the years. It seems that depression affects a lot of people in the world but for some reason it is very common in the world of sports.

The world of sports is so competitive that only a handful of athletes make it to a professional level. Those that do have to deal with intense pressure and stress at top levels. Statistics reveal that almost 20 million people will suffer from major depression during their lives. It is worse in the case of athletes because of the mental attitude of so many of them, the feeling that they are tougher than the illness and so they do not seek help. Also the fact that if they do seek help and start taking medication it can affect them physically and mess with their careers. The affects of depression can be so devastating for an athlete because their livelihoods are dependent on them being physically and mentally on top form. With depression they can become so sick that they might not be able to compete.

Sports can affect athletes in very specific ways because of unique factors found only in sports; injury, burnout and overtraining. Studies were conducted that found that depression affects as many as 25% of female athletes and around 12% of male ones. This is a very high number of athletes that are affected with depression. One of the major factors in a sports contest is winning the battle against your mind. The athlete with the superior mental abilities and the desire to win mentally will usually come out on top against a similarly talented rival.

Over the years many athletes have suffered from depression. Among the list of top athletes were, Monica Seles; professional tennis player, John Madden; professional American football player, Wendy Williams; the US Olympic diver and many others. Some of these athletes suffered from injuries like Wendy Williams and some just felt the pressure get to them to such a huge level that they had to quit their sport and take a break for a while. A lot of people still attach a stigma to mental illness but as we have progressed and more people are being diagnosed with depression, it is being seen as something more acceptable and treatable.

It seems that because of the stigma attached to the disease a lot of athletes do not get treated for depression. A lot of times we see top sports stars who suddenly crash and burn and no one knows why it happened. More often than not it is depression that causes an athlete to go off the rails and their careers get destroyed in the process. The situation is changing though with many professional sports teams hiring psychiatrists to look after the mental health of their players. In the past a lot of sports teams would hire physiotherapists to look after the physical health of players while the mental health would go unchecked. It is a very positive sign that teams have started to worry about the mental health of their athletes as well as their physical health.

There is a very specific type of depression that affects mostly athletes called post-competition depression. As most athletes retire at a very young age, around their mid to late 30s, they feel the onset of retirement and the depression that comes with it much more than other people do. As their lives are very much in the limelight, once they retire they are forgotten about and they usually do not have anything to fall back on for the long run. This instance of feeling worthless causes a great number of athletes to go into severe depression when they retire. A strong case should be made to provide support programs and mental health checks for athletes once they retire to keep them healthy for the rest of their lives.

Depression can strike us all and it seems to strike athletes in great numbers. The perception that athletes are too tough to seek help for depression and other mental illnesses should change and they should be made to seek help by their coaches and trainers. Hopefully with taking these types of initiatives we can help many athletes get over their illnesses and go back to being at the top of their game.

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