Suicide is always a tragedy and occasionally, we mourn the loss of gifted athletes when they commit suicide. Physical health and mental health often don’t correlate. Due to significant demand, we may experience mood disorders, anxiety and depression. Top athletes are granted hero status and this isn’t always the best thing for them. Boxers and soccer players may suffer nasty impact on their head, causing repeated mild concussion. This contributes to potential mental issues. When athletes experience mental issues, it’s important to embrace new attitude. This may help in avoiding potential suicide. Depression and various mental issues could be addressed by education. It is a fact that mental illness will affect athletes.

Despite their top physical condition, they are not immune to various mental disorders, like anxiety and depression.  Coaches should be perceptive about the mental condition of their athletes or team members. They should be educated about first indications and anxiety. Some of the symptoms are visible. Athletes shouldn’t think mental problem as a sign of weaknesses. Some mental problems are actually quite common among the society. In reality, we can perfectly manage any mental problem. If an athlete has swollen muscles, they can see a therapist or doctors. So, if they are suffering from anxiety, it is also important to meet professionals who can help them. Athletes should know that they are not crazy and they should be willing to confide in their counsellors and coaches.

Avoiding the problem will only make athletes suffer longer. Some coaches are not even aware that their athletes are having mental issues. When it happens, athletes could be punished for their anxiety and depression. This is not helping and may make the problem to get worse, because athletes don’t know how to solve the problem.  Elite athletes are especially vulnerable to high degree of stress. Constant pressure could provoke specific mental issues. As an example, it appears that concussions and head injuries increase the risk of depression. Health issues could cause lower quality of life. When an athlete has committed suicide, he/she will receive significant attention from the public and the media. Unfortunately, hardly anyone, even closest teammates know that the recently deceased athlete has hidden mental issues.

There’s not enough encouragement for athletes to be honest about what they are feeling. Athletes are expected to be perfect, durable, resilient and tough. So, they are reluctant to talk to someone about mental problems that they are suffering. Athletes don’t want to get stigmatized and extreme things could happen, such drugs abuse and suicide. When someone is always performing under an extreme pressure, mental issues could happen. Anger, spousal verbal abuse, gambling, drugs and alcohols can be sign that there’s an unaddressed mental issue. Athletes should be educated to observe their fellow athletes or teammates. Coaches and counsellors should approach top players who are under immense pressure to regularly check their mental conditions.