Depression, a tragic ending that repeats itself in sports

Depression, highlighted as a cause that led to suicide in Tori Bowie, t.ripple medalist Olympic Games in Rio 2016. reopened the debate about the frequency of an almost invisible disease, which, according to recent studies, affects 6% of the population and 21 out of 100 elite athletes.

The American specialist in 100 and 200 meters has not competed since June 4, 2022. According to her neighbors in winter Garden, sought after suburb OrlandoHe rarely left home, but often had serious personal conflicts.

It was rumored that she was burdened with large debts and, what is even sadder, that she was seven months pregnant.

While the first investigations excluded evidence of domestic violence Bowie, who was alerted by the police last week because “no movement was noticed inside for days”, details and testimonies were published in the press that spoke about his complex emotional situation.

It didn’t take long for the singer to confirm the validity of the media reports Paul Askewa close friend of the 32-year-old sprinter born in a modest home in Mississippi.

“Depression is real, please take care of your people. You never know what their minds may be up against,” wrote Askew, mourning the tragic end of the two-time London 2017 world champion in the 100m and 4×100, and bronze medalist in the 100 in Beijing 2015.

all in danger

They predicted a depression in 2022 World Health Organization (WHO) as a disease that affects 300 million people.

The entity reckons that by 2050 it will be a major health problem, a frightening scenario, as it appears to be invisible, and for many, like Tori Bowie, it is a gateway to suicide.

Today, it is considered that one person in the world takes their own life every 40 seconds, that is, almost a million a year. But we must not lose sight of the number of those who try.

Paradoxical, because it has always been claimed that playing sports is beneficial for physical and mental health.

But doctors, psychologists and psychiatrists, physiotherapists and coaches agree in highlighting the effects that the demands of the profession place on athletes, which can be brutal.

Demands such as those arising from pressure from sponsors or federations for peak performance or anxiety that creates bad moments or slow-recovery injuries that undermine athletic performance.

These factors relieve the fear of failure or, even worse, hasten the end of a career.

In America, these were the most complained about cases.

Golf, an abyss of danger that separates glory from continuity.

On May 9, 2010, the foundations were laid Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) They were shocked by the news of Erica Blasberg’s death at her residence in Henderson, about 15 miles southeast of Las Vegas.

Police found the body of a 25-year-old woman with a plastic bag tied over her head.

After 107 days of silence and speculation, the coroner concluded that he had said so Blasberg he died of suffocation and that there were toxic traces of drugs on the corpse, including a prescription-only pain reliever, as well as other cough, pain and anxiety medications.

He reached professionalism six years earlier. His best year in LPGA it was in 2008, when he tied for eighth at the SBS Open in Hawaii. He collected $113,000 in winnings that season, according to the report LPGA, but then she already expressed that she felt alone.

Deterioration of golfer’s mental health. “I was disappointed. She would suddenly say things that ‘raised red flags’. She once mentioned that she didn’t feel like she had any friends, which was completely untrue.”

Cyclist Kelly Catlin was never the same

World champion in cycling on a triple track Kelly Catline took his own life on March 7, 2019 at only 23 years old.

Catlin, silver medalist in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in the team pursuit in October 2018, he broke his arm, and in December of the same year, he suffered a concussion in an accident.

For the US national and rally cycling team, as well as for her parents, Kelly was never the same.

“She couldn’t focus on her studies or train as hard anymore. She couldn’t fulfill the obligations she felt she had, she couldn’t fulfill her own expectations,” her father said. Mark Catlin.

Baseball is not a matter of age or experience

At the age of 58, a Venezuelan Omar MalavHe seemed to have done enough. Benchmark in his country as a player for Cardenales de Lara and Toronto Blue Jays in The big leagues.

Already as a coach he was in charge of Cardenales de Lara, Caribes de Anzoátegui, Leones del Caracas and Navegantes del Magallanes. And the Blue Jays in two phases: 1991-2009. and 2011-2012.

Throughout 2021, he was the manager of Union Laguna Cotton Growers until November 22, when he committed suicide at his residence in Miami.

His daughter admitted that he had been struggling with depression for months, but he did not expect to be defeated.

“For anyone who wants to know what happened. He killed himself. This is the truth I won’t hide because mental health is so important. It can happen to anyone! Even someone like #omarmalava I never thought in a million years that my father would do that did, but he did it. We all are,” the young woman wrote on social media.

But these problems, which lead to depression and drive many to commit suicide, are not exclusive to the sports elite.

In the amateur field, many competitors succumb to anxiety, panic and frustration, the first steps towards depression, because their goals and expectations are not met.