Inside Story: Depression- the dark side of life at the top in tennis

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Calling for action: Pat Cash suffered from depression and says tennis association must do more to help.

    As more and more athletes have stepped forward in recent years to talk about depression, many have wondered whether elite sportspersons are more prone to mental illness than others.

    Psychologists have pointed out that depression is common whether a person is an elite athlete or not but that it is difficult for sports stars, who are perceived to be living the dream and leading fascinating lifestyles, to admit that they have a problem.

    Australian retired tennis player, Pat Cash, who won Wimbledon in 1987 and had suffered from the illness for many years, believes not nearly enough is done in his sport to address depression and other mental struggles players can face.

    In his autobiography ‘Uncovered’, Cash spoke in detail about his battle with depression during his career and after his retirement.

    “When I wasn’t on a high, I was depressed – seriously depressed,” he said in his book.

    “There are times I’ve been very close to committing suicide. The only reason I haven’t gone through with it is because I’ve got children.

    "I’d almost certainly be dead if I didn’t have the kids – there’s no doubt about that.”

    One of his main problems was his overwhelming fear of losing during his playing years.

    “It was an over-riding factor in my life. It was the shame, the embarrassment that went with it," he explained.

    "It’s a bit like heroin – winning became a drug I had to have otherwise I was depressed. You feel no one loves you when you lose; you want to kill yourself."

    Cash was here in Abu Dhabi launching the community programmes of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship and spoke about how more needs to be done by tennis associations in order to make sure players do not fall down the rabbit hole that is depression.

    “Unfortunately, I think we’ll get to a stage where something drastic will happen before they go ‘oh wow’," Cash told Sport360°.

    "You heard it first here. It’ll happen. Somebody will have had enough of life and they’ll be ‘my God, we’ve really overlooked this’. But sometimes my pleas fall on deaf ears."

    Cash’s comments came on the heels of his young compatriot Ashleigh Barty announcing she was taking an indefinite break from the sport at the tender age of 18.

    Another Aussie teenager, Nick Kyrgios, pulled the plug early on his season citing burnout. 

    “I think the amount of pressure and stress, physical stress, demands that are being put on those kids from the age of 12 and 14," says Cash.

    "Having to play hours and travelling all the time, who do they talk to? They can talk to their coach but a coach is not a qualified psychiatrist, or psychologist.

    "Absolutely, you need that (professional help). I’ve been adamant about this for many years.

    “Has there been enough done in the tennis associations? I would say absolutely not. I’d say it’s the one thing – I think it’s one element that has been misunderstood by tennis associations. 

    “Being Australian especially, you’re away from home the whole year. You’re 10 months on the road, out of a suitcase and that’s the reality of it.

    "That’s generally speaking why Aussies do better certainly later in their careers than others. Lleyton Hewitt did well quite young, I did, but most of the players took to their mid-20s to start doing well because you’re homesick and you want to go back home and it’s tough to learn how to travel.” 

    Psychologists say reporting the problem is a great obstacle amongst athletes, even more amongst males

    In a BBC documentary that discussed depression in professional sport, it was stated that one in 11 sports stars will suffer or have suffered from a form of depression.

    “Their job is on the line with every kick or move that they may make. Their career is as short as a butterfly, they are compelled to be men’s men and if they find that the mood inside is not the same as the applause outside, they can’t admit it. And as a sex, men don’t really own up to depression. Women are officially twice as depressed as men. Men are three times more likely to kill themselves because of depression,” says acclaimed British psychotherapist, Phillip Hodson.

    The increased public scrutiny that has come about with the arrival of social media has also become an added stress factor amongst athletes.

    In February last year, Canadian 22-year-old tennis player Rebecca Marino quit the sport citing depression.

    She also spoke about cyber-bullying and how it had taken its toll on her.

    She closed both her Facebook and Twitter accounts stating: “Social media has also taken its toll on me… In a way I wish I hadn’t joined social media.

    “My depression had come way before the so-called cyber-bullying,” added Marino, who explained how she had been battling depression for six years.

    “I am opening up to you all about this because I would like to get rid of the stigma attached not only to depression but also to mental illnesses both in the public and in professional sports. 

    If I can share my story and change one person’s outlook or life, I have reached my goal. Depression is nothing to be ashamed of.”

    But public scrutiny and fear of losing are just two of the reasons professional athletes have cited as reasons behind their depression.

    Getting sidelined with injuries is a common struggle. British tennis player Heather Watson admitted she fought through depression while she was off the court recovering from a severe case of glandular fever.

    Dubai-based German sports psychologist, Dr. Caren Diehl of Transform Medical Centre, says maintaining a life away from the sport is vital for pro athletes.

    “Depression is common for everyone. It stands out more in elite sports because if you compare it to the normal population there aren’t that many elite athletes – there’s a feeling that it’s a bigger deal in the sporting world but it’s not," she says.

    "It’s common. It’s not an uncommon thing for elite athletes because they have a lot of pressure to deal with."

    “There’s identity issues. How strong is their identity for them as an athlete? So are they first and foremost a tennis player, or are they first and foremost a person? So that plays a huge role, how do they identify themselves?

    “You need to be careful not to over-train as well because when you over-train, burnout can happen and with burnout, depression is likely to happen as well.

    "So you need to find that right balance between your sporting world and the rest of your world.”

    She says the right support system is an integral part of a player’s coping mechanism: “These athletes that travel all the time, what kind of relationship do they have with their coach?

    "Is it an open enough relationship where they can say ‘actually I’m having a rough day today and not feeling too good. I’m kind of feeling down’.

    “Especially in male sport, in a sporting world it’s so taboo to talk about depression.

    "In Germany, they were taken by shock when our goalkeeper (Robert Enke) committed suicide.

    "I think the first big step is to let everyone know.

    "Mental illness is a problem and we should be able to be upfront about it.”

    Diehl insists that once depression is diagnosed, it is fixable, but that it’s important to find the right solution that would work for a particular athlete.

    She said: “I was working with an athlete who was clinically depressed but didn’t want to take anti-depressants because they can make you feel numb, it takes away those emotions you have, and for sports those emotions are sometimes what drives you.

    "So you need to find out what works for you and what doesn’t work for you."

    Recommended