Robert Enke poses for a team photo. Robert Enke, Hannover 96 and Germany’s national team goalkeeper, passed away on Tuesday Nov. 10, 2009. He was 32. AP Photo/Uwe Lein,File
I can’t pretend to have known much about Robert Enke, the German footballer who threw himself in front of a train this week, but I was more than familiar with the emotional architecture of his story, having written a piece on depression among sportspeople a few years ago for Inside Sport magazine.
In the sporting world, as everywhere, it is rampant. But sport itself presents unique challenges for those working to destigmatise mental illness.
That’s because so many sportspeople, especially in professional ball sports, have to function in macho and ultra-competitive environments where showing any amount of frailty, timidity or weakness can get you dropped from the team or ostracised in the dressing-room.
Depression demands they keep silent.
And so they do, from their teammates, their coaches, often their families, suffering in silence until one day you or I pick up the newspaper or log on to the internet and read that this person whose existence we took for granted is gone.
That’s what happened with Enke.
He kept it to himself until such time as he could take it no more and left behind a letter explaining his torment. His Germany and Hannover 96 teammates are in shock, having known nothing of his troubles. The Nationalmannschaft’s next match, a friendly against Chile this weekend, has been cancelled.
Enke’s death comes only weeks after Paul Williams, the former SBS football commentator, also took his own life. As my SBS colleague Les Murray wrote with great courage, not sanitising the tragedy for anybody, Williams died “in a dark place and in a dark state of sinister despondency, shivering in the ultimate cold of hopelessness… harangued by demons against whom he had long fought but by whom, in the end, he was out-manoeuvred.
“It was, as so often happens in football, a victory for senseless injustice.”
Senseless injustice might be acceptable on a football field, because it’s only a game. In any case one cannot prevent the movement or trajectory of every pass and ensure the result we want. But senseless injustice, when it comes to the ultimate contest of living and dying, is something we should never accept.
Sportspeople need to know they can reach out for help without retribution or judgment. Most can’t, or feel they can’t, either when they’re mid-career or retired, and so we keep on hearing stories like Enke’s and Williams’s that shock us to their core for their needlessness and waste.
Mental illness has destroyed too many lives for us to sit by and let the carnage continue. We all need to do more for those among us who are struggling, particularly men – be they mates, brothers, sons, fathers or whoever, whether they play sport or not. Getting another beer into them and asking them to cheer up isn’t the support they need.
Enke’s death was needless. But if one person is saved by hearing his story and choosing to get help, it wasn’t in vain.
May he rest in peace.
———-
Anyone feeling disturbed by this story or otherwise needing help can take a first step by visiting http://www.beyondblue.org.au, or calling Lifeline (24 hours) 13 11 14, or Mensline Australia (24 hours) 1300 78 99 78.
Kath
Guest
The idea that spectacular talent and material reward offer some sort of protection against the vagaries of life is a recurrent theme in the comments on this excellent article. In reality, the super-talented are very often isolated in lonely towers of high expectation and punishingly hard work. Worst, they are starved of the true intimacy we need before we reveal our real pain to others. No amount of material comfort can protect people from the lethal effects of loneliness. Big talent and lavish reward may look invincible from the outside. Whether they're on the sporting field, in the performing arts or corporate life, most of those with talent and reward will tell you that when the chips are down, it's still one hell of a solitary ride.
Pippinu
Roar Guru
Freud the point is - while the AFL had the 3 strikes policy - what did the rest of the world have? Until very recently - they had absolutely nothing.
gazz
Roar Pro
what a shame of a story. well put Jesse, but this whole story just sickens me. i still can't quite believe it.
dasilva
Guest
I don't believe this yeah why doesn't Enke just hang himself, slit his wrist, ingest poison, blow his head off with a shotgun That's a far more selfless way for suicide I'm quite sure most of the people who were inconvenience by this suicide were thinking about their own sense of mortality instead of blaming Enke I'm quite sure most of those people who were late or couldn't make their appointment would get some understanding from their boss/girlfriend/wife/children etc. Yes it is selfish but there's point being bitter and angry about it
Freud of Football
Roar Guru
"the most progressive and extensive in the world" - Pip, you know I am an AFL fan as well as a football fan but the AFL "scheme" is a joke, really, 3 strikes is just ridiculous beyond anything that should ever be allowed in professional sport. But you're right, this isn't the place to discuss the AFL's cover-up policy.
Freud of Football
Roar Guru
No, Enke didn't interrupt me picking up relatives from the airport, that was some other git. There are plenty of ways to kill oneself and if one really desperately wants to do it and doesn't see any other way out, that is indeed sad but they don't need to go and wreck everyone elses life.
Kurt
Guest
Oh FFS Freud normally you have some interesting comments to make but can you not find it within yourself to recognise what this guy must have been going through and show a little compassion? Yes suicide is a selfish act, possibly the most selfish act a human being can carry out, but surely the fact that someone who was by all accounts a decent person took this step says something about his despair. But I mean if you were delayed in picking up relatives at the airport, well then I can only empathise with your horrible plight you poor dear chap.
Midfielder
Guest
Jes Maybe because of my cousin but I @!&%$% cannot find the right word … but enjoy nay respect nay appreciate nay all those …but when an artist in a song crosses that line and speaks of an warns of normally unspeakable things.. here are some songs that just come to mind. Elton John ….... Song for Guy REM…………… Everybody Hurts Five for Fighting .. Superman Gary Jules …. Mad World … imo pulls at the heart the most … Melaine … Rugby Tuesday … heaps of other including the stones have done this song … but Melaine does the best version.. J.D. Souther … Your only Lonely And then the songs about dependence but classic songs crying out for help.. Pink Floyd……. Comfortably Numb Enya ……. May it be ( AHHhh what a voice) John English or Metallica …. Turn the Page. Heaps more I am sure
Art Sapphire
Guest
Your priorities are pretty warped Freud. You must become apoplectic when a plane or late is delayed or 3 to 4 hours late due to the weather. Why can't you accept that somethings are out of you control. That's what the essence of life is. Just like what happened to the train driver. Everyone feels sympathy for him and everyone hopes he copes with whats happened to him. Humans have a wonderful ability in the main to endure and to overcome tradgedies. There are millions of examples of this. This is what makes us what we are. There is no point getting angry about a tragic circumstance. Lastly, I don't think most of the roar readers are over-sensitive, they just have different insight and perspective You come across as sort of Nietzchean Ubermensch.Is this what you strive for?? Well, if thats your gig, good for you. But it ain't mine.
Midfielder
Guest
Bravo and well put Andre.. well said..
megatron
Guest
Well said Jesse. May he rest in peace and may the millions who suffer from this terrible illness find peace within their own lives. It's time for society to understand the impact of this killer and try and help the sufferers find peace.
Daniel
Guest
Yes, agree on the three amigos but I have the impression that the amigos will be replaceed with new amigos (Nerlinger for instance). I wish Rensing all the best.
Daniel
Guest
"He played for Hannover for gods sakes, yes he might have had a short spell in Barcelona and Mourinho admired him in his time at Benfica but he wasn’t some star whose exploits on the field touched millions, he was a name who stood in goal for a small club," He was similar to Andreas Koepke, Kahn`s predecessor as Germany`s no.1. Koepke played for Eintracht Frankfurt, conceded more goals than any other goalkeeper in the Bundesliga and got relegated with his club in 1995/96. But he was still called up as Germany`s goalkeeper at the following European Championship. He won the Euro with Germany, became "goalkeeper of the tournament"," Best European Goalkeeper" and the "World`s best goalkeeper" in 1996. Kahn could not dislodge him either and only became Germany`s No.1 after Koepke stepped down in 1998. It doesn`t matter which club you are playing for. It`s the individual quality that counts. And as the favorite to become Germany`s no.1 he held the most prestigious position in German sports. Hence, his suicide has come as a huge shock that went right into the heart of German society. Of course his tragic life and death and the fact that he was well liked across Germany are another reason for the intensive media coverage.
Pippinu
Roar Guru
This isn't the place to discuss the AFL's drug testing regime (the most progressive and extensive in the world) - but the amount of ignorance surrounding it borders on unbelievable.
Karlo Tychsen
Guest
While it is 'noble' of the AFL to give its players two chances to clean up before they are exposed and/or suspended, if a sense of honour about protecting their players were their driving motivation, then all would be well and good. But that is not the case at all. In fact, any argument that rampant drug-use in sport is entirely because of psychological issues does a disservice to psychological illness and the fight against illicit substance abuse. What Jessie is clearly talking about is the need to be very, very aware of the life-threatening problems that can quickly emerge in a macho world that punishes frailty. The AFL, the biggest PR machine in Australia, is interested only in protecting its product in the eye of the public. By limiting the number of players that will be put up to public scrutiny, they are given more and more avenue to clean up their act behind tightly-shut closed doors. Of course, the other, much larger problem in all this, is the long-term and extensive side-effects both physically and mentally, that go unchecked as AFL players gallivant about knowing there is only a snowflakes chance in Hades they will every get done three times. Apologists for the AFL's (supposed) drug-testing regime should think a lot more about issues other than emotional well-being (which itself should not be forgotten either) when talking about the holier-than-thou AFL's administration and its drug-testing.
Freud of Football
Roar Guru
The person I certainly feel for here is the train driver. Yes its extremely hard for his wife and he has left a kid behind which is extremely unfair on the both of them and particularly his wife, obviously she has this the hardest. But I've been quite annoyed by the selfishness of people throwing themselves in front of trains before - I missed picking up relatives from the airport, they stood in a foreign place for 4 hours, totally confused and I couldn't contact them because the trains weren't going after someone decided they needed to kill themselves this way - and this is no exception. Yes he was depressed and that is a terrible illness and he was obviously suicidal but we are to "accept" that his last act was to go and ruin someone elses life? Perhaps none of the oh-so sensitive Roar crowd cares about this but something like this holds up traffic for hours, what of all the people who were late to their anniversary dinners, missed 3-4 hours of a girlfriends birthday, how do you think this delay has affected their lives? These aren't "inconveniences", they are just unnecessary to put on the rest of society. How do all of the well-wishers think that the train driver is holding up? He just killed a man, it wasn't his fault but he was the one sitting at the front of the train, he saw the whole thing and yet everyone is writing the nice obituaries about Enke, not about how selfish peoples actions can be.
midfield general
Guest
Nah forget it mate, I don't get you at all. And you're missing the whole point of Jesse's article. You call yourself the father of psychoanalysis? Haha
Andre Krueger
Guest
I know Robert Enke very well, a great nice person, fantastic sportsman, fair and loved person. 35.000 people went on the street to say goodbye, 50.000 and more are coming to his farewell on Sunday at his stadium. Now we know he was very sick, a kind of sickness we can not understand. In his last letter he said that he will leave this world, so no one will ever heard that he is sick !!?? He was out of this world in his last few hours. He hoped, when he is gone, no one knows what is happened to him. I was at the place where was hit by the train, he walked straight and looked at the train …. It was raining, and fresh ….. Than it was over for him. - He is saved …. That’s what he thought … but its not over for the train driver, not for his so lovely wife, not for his adopted child, not for his thousand of fans and kids, who called him an idol. At the end it’s a tragedy, and I am afraid that many will follow him. He is still the nice guy for me, ever, but he made a bad mistake. Not only for his self …but for many other people. Andre Krueger from Hanover.
Freud of Football
Roar Guru
No, Kahn took Rensing under his wing at Bayern and held high hopes for him, I most certainly mean Rensing, he has been disappointing but wait and see what happens when he leaves Bayern, he will come good. Kahn was only so good in Munich because he is Kahn, to expect someone to come in and fill his shoes with the three amigos constantly hounding their own players in the press is a ridiculous situation but one that exists at Bayern and will until those three amigos leave, then finally the club will come good again.
Daniel
Guest
I think you are referring to Adler - not Rensing. Rensing was only Germany`s No.1 in Hoeness` imagination.