Cesar Trejo

English 11
Paul Healy
01/26/2016
Athletes Suffering from Depression
Introduction:
Not many athletes pay attention to mental health problems because it may be the first
time experiencing it. Some know that they are experiencing mental health problems, but they
don't say anything because they think it is nothing that bad. Mental health problems can
sometimes cause an athlete to commit suicide. Mental health problems is like when someone
has a mental illness caused by an injury or anything in general. Depression is one of the mental
health problems that some athletes may get. Really bad injuries that causes an athlete to retire
can be stressful or depressing because they are stuck knowing that wont be able to play
anymore. There are ways for an athlete to seek for help when they are experiencing depression,
but the thing is that not many go ask for help or the coaches, trainers or doctors do not pay
attention to the athlete after any injury.
Background:
Not everyone know that some athletes suffer from mental health problems and that it
may cause them to retire. Leg injuries, head injuries, arm injuries, and etc. cause mental health
problems and that prevents them from playing the sport they love and not playing causes them
to get depression. An athlete having to retire can be emotional because they wont be doing
what they love to do and they suffer from a high rate of depression. A research from an article
shows that 26 percent of players reported the mental health problems with that figure rising to
39 percent among retired players., (TMG). A few of former athletes suffer from mental health
problems, but the percentage increases for retired athletes.

Current athletes also suffer from depression its because they are injured and the
doctors says they have to take some time off of a sport. A student- athlete named Picabo Street,
was an Olympic skier and suffered from depression because she had gotten a leg and knee
injury and she had to take some time off from skiing. She had been interviewed from NCAA and
according to Margot Putukian, Picabo Street said I went all the way to rock bottom It was a
combination of the atrophying of my legs , the new scars and feeling like a caged animal.
(Putukian). Street had to get used to the fact that she is injured and can not skii for a while and
that made her feel trapped and not active because she was used to being active.
When athletes are forced to retire it is hard for athletes to live their life happily because
they are not doing what they love and it hurts them so much. They have to get used to not
playing anymore and not being active most of the time. When the FIFPro chief medical officer,
Vincent Gouttebarge was being interviewed by the CTV NEWS, he said Retirement was really
a critical period' with players abruptly losing the structure of regular training and support of
being in a club. (qt, CTV NEWS). What that means is that athletes have to live differently since
they arent playing the sport they love, and that can be hard to do. It can put you under a lot of
stress. (qt, CTV NEWS). You get stressed and depressed because now the athletes dont know
what to do since most of the time they are either training or playing.
Not all athletes seek for help when they have depression and when they dont get help it
gets worse and they start doing drugs and drinking alcohol. By worse I mean they start having
thoughts on suicide. There was this professional cricketer named Mark and he was suffering
from depression until he took his life because it got worse. (Clutton).

Section 1:
The problem is that not all athletes ask for help they just let depression take over their
body because they dont know how to deal with it, but what they dont know is that it can get
worse. There are a couple of different ways for an athlete to cope with depression or stop
having thoughts of suicide.What they can do is ask their doctors, trainer or coach for a Cognitive
Behavioral Treatment (CBT). A CBT is A form of therapy that helps athletes challenge and
change negative thoughts and behaviors that contribute to their feelings of depression. (Bruen).
This would help an athlete by changing their minds about negative thoughts like not being able
to do anything or its not going to be the same. Also, it will help the athlete a lot with having
thoughts about suicide and having drugs or alcohol addiction.
Sport Injuries are sometimes career ending and that depresses an athlete, but every
athlete should have a backup plan because they never know what may happen in the future. If
an athlete doesnt have a backup plan then they can try to play a different sport, but its
important for athletes to give consideration to post- playing career planning and to have other
things in their life aside from their sport.(qt. Webster). If an athlete is not interested in playing a
different sport then it is better to have another plan. It will help because they will have something
else to do than instead of not doing anything. Plus, they may find out that, that back plan is
better than what they thought.

Counter-Argument:
One might object here that an athlete taking sessions of Cognitive Behavioral Treatment and
having a backup plan or playing different sports is not going to help an athlete deal with
depression. The argument is an athlete might not choose the right person for the therapy, but
thats why they talk to their trainer, coach and doctor and they can refer them an excellent
person to do the therapy. Playing a different sport can be a good choice because almost every
athlete is competitive and they can choose a sport that is competitive but less active. One may
say, what if the athlete isnt interested in playing any other sport. In that case, thats why an
athlete should have a backup plan. A backup plan should be something else that an athlete is
interested in, not something that they dont like because that wont help an athlete deal with
depression. This would help the athlete not feel like they dont have anything else to do since or
trapped in their own house. It will keep the athlete busy and help to keep their mind off thinking
about not having to play the sport they love.
Conclusion
In conclusion, depression can be treated and there are many ways to treat it. Athletes
should always seek for help when they notice anything wrong with them. Injuries can sometimes
be a good experience because you may find out that you are good at something else and it
might take you to a better place. Athletes who do not seek for help when they have depression
everything is going to go downhill and probably make them to take their own life.

Works Cited

"One in Four Footballers Suffer Depression, Study Reveals." T

he Telegraph. Telegraph
Media Group, 02 Apr. 2014. Web. 22 Jan. 2016.

Clutton, Graham. "The Ashes 2013-14: Kevin Saxelby Discusses His Late Brother
Mark's Battle with Depression." T
he Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 26 Nov. 2013.
Web. 26 Jan. 2016.

Putukian, Margot. "Mind, Body and Sport: How Being Injured Affects Mental Health."
NCAA.org. NP, 05 Nov. 2014. Web. 26 Jan. 2016.

Leciester, John. "1 in 4 Pro Soccer Players Suffer Symptoms of Anxiety, Depression."
CTVNews. The Associated Press, 02 Apr. 2014. Web. 26 Jan. 2016.

Bruen, Judy. "Depression in Athletes." L

IVESTRONG.COM. LIVESTRONG.COM, 28
July 2015. Web. 26 Jan. 2016.

Webster, Hannah. "How to Overcome Depression After a Sports Injury." US News.

U.S.News & World Report, 21 July 2014. Web. 26 Jan. 2016.