gerd
Retired Footballer
It seems that the tabou around depression and burn out in football is getting broken in Germany.
This week Ronald Reng will publish what promises be one of the best football books ever: about Robert Enke and his depression, that lead to his shocking suicide. Reng (a former GK himself) was a friend of Enke and Enke's widow let him used Enke's diary. In Germany this book was unanimously lauded because it avoid a sensational approach and give insight about depression and the pressure professional football players are under.
This week Schalke coach Rangnick stopped because he is suffering from a burn out. A month ago the second GK of Hannover (once again Hannover) stopped his carreer becauser he suffered depression.
And then there was the player who used to be a promising player, got transferred to Bayern but also had to stop his carreer for mental reasons (forgot his name).
Most of us will have dreamed of becoming a professional football player, yet what occurs now in Germany seems to point out that there is a dark side to the football dream. Of course this is not only the case in German football...Think about players like Gazza or Best who someway or another also had mental problems and there must be others.
I was wondering if any of you have similar examples or have any thoughts about this...surely not the easiest subject. But IMO the dark side of sports is also worth talking about. The "failures" intrest me more than the success stories.
This week Ronald Reng will publish what promises be one of the best football books ever: about Robert Enke and his depression, that lead to his shocking suicide. Reng (a former GK himself) was a friend of Enke and Enke's widow let him used Enke's diary. In Germany this book was unanimously lauded because it avoid a sensational approach and give insight about depression and the pressure professional football players are under.
This week Schalke coach Rangnick stopped because he is suffering from a burn out. A month ago the second GK of Hannover (once again Hannover) stopped his carreer becauser he suffered depression.
And then there was the player who used to be a promising player, got transferred to Bayern but also had to stop his carreer for mental reasons (forgot his name).
Most of us will have dreamed of becoming a professional football player, yet what occurs now in Germany seems to point out that there is a dark side to the football dream. Of course this is not only the case in German football...Think about players like Gazza or Best who someway or another also had mental problems and there must be others.
I was wondering if any of you have similar examples or have any thoughts about this...surely not the easiest subject. But IMO the dark side of sports is also worth talking about. The "failures" intrest me more than the success stories.