Most of the time it is once retired when athletes count their mental health decline, such as multi-medalist Michael Phelps
Taboo subject for a long time among athletes, depression little by little comes out of the shadows. More and more people say they feel bad, also a sign of better management of psychological problems, something necessary to go through a covid.
French swimmer Béryl Gastaldello, 25, entered a severe depression in 2018. “I fell very, very low. I no longer had any control over my body. They prescribed me medicine, ”he confided a few months ago.
This testimony of an athlete in the middle of her career, with options to participate in the Tokyo JOs, is still quite rare.
The Australian tennis player Nick kyrgios, 25, recently revealed his “sad and lonely situation” while battling depression caused by the overwhelming pace of the circuit ATP.
The American Basketball Player Kevin Love he also made his anxiety and depression public.
But most of the time it is once retired when the athletes count their fall, such as the Olympic multi-medalist Michael Phelps.
They have been very open, athletes agree to speak a little more than they feel, they are humans, not robots“, Explain Cecilia Delage, a sports psychologist, who follows players from Lens, but also jumpers and skiers.
“Elite sports don’t especially rhyme with mental health,” recalls Makis Chamalidis, also a sports psychologist. “Feeling on a mission,” they can be “at the extremes” and go from the “omnipotence” of winning to the “‘I’m terrible'” of failure, he explains.
The end of a career or an injury that lasts for a long time can also be difficult times.
At INSEP, a French institute of sport and performance, where potential champions grow up, the team of psychologists has increased in recent years.
“We have more and more requests for support from athletes with a double dimension: psychological and performance aid“, Explains Anaëlle Malberbe, one of the five psychologists. “Coaches are more open about this,” he says.
“The brake is: ‘you are a high-level athlete, you have no right to fail.’ That is false, ”he describes. New Zealand rugby John Kirwan, who suffered depression, gave the title of his book: “The All Blacks do not cry.”
Anxiety disorders, depressive episodes, eating behavior problems, addictions … “the athlete can find the same problems as everyone else”, explains Malherbe.
Within the population, one person in five suffers or will suffer from depression in their lifetime.
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Since 2006, elite athletes have done one psychological interview per year, two if they are minors, as part of their medical follow-up.
Are there sports that are more psychologically tough?
“There are sports where there is a strong training load, such as swimming, gymnastics, table tennis”, explains Malherbe, with a risk of “overtraining”, the variant of ‘burn out’ or professional burnout among athletes.
“Hitting a ball is not the same as counting the tiles when you swim 15 km per day”, Chamalidis deepens, evoking the “loneliness” of “repetition sports”.
French swimmer Yannick Agnel, a victim of a ‘burn out’, said last year that he regretted not benefiting from sufficient psychological support.
“In football, there are many players and few places, we find young people who invest too much in their practice and they do not get it,” Delage also details.
A positive point, she says, is the fact that sports psychologists are now “identified as a necessity and integrated into the ‘staff’”, which allows prevention.
Chamalidis also mentions the busy life of the coaches, “who travel a lot, far from their families, squeezed like lemons (…)” resulting in “a personal life that is not always very balanced.”
With the Covid-19 crisis, professional athletes have been put to the test. Since the end of November, Malherbe has observed “more minor depressive problems” among athletes, as well as the rest of the population due to irregular competitions, a “limited social bond” and perhaps also relatives affected by the virus.
IPR
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Tags: anxiety, depression, Michael Phelps, mental health
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