So much has been going on and it’s downright shameful that it’s been almost a month and a half since I’ve updated last. Although there is much to write about, I feel compelled to write about Robert Enke.
Enke was a goalkeeper for Hannover 96 in the German Bundesliga. After a career of ups and downs, he had finally become settled. Last year, he was voted Goalkeeper of the Year. He was set to be Team Germany’s #1 in next summer’s World Cup. This on-field success makes it difficult to believe that he took his own life last week by jumping in front of a train.
His father, who had urged him to get help, said the circumstances of his life lead him to suicide. Enke’s grief for a young daughter he lost to heart problems in 2006 never fully ended. Although he told teammates and coaches he was fine, he never really recovered. There were injury setbacks and moves to different teams. According to his wife he had battled depression the last six years. He was afraid about the consequences of people knowing he was depressed. He feared that authorities would take the daughter that he and his wife had adopted.
It’s a terribly tragic situation but there is a lesson to be learned.
That Enke was so afraid of people finding out says a lot about how taboo mental health issues still are, even in today’s society. But perhaps even worse is the blood-thirsty media that we’ve created. How might a common rag like the Bild Zeitung handled the news if Enke went into treatment? What about the fans on internet forums? We have become so obsessed that privacy for athletes and other celebrities doesn’t exist. You aren’t even allowed to grieve in private anymore, and it’s disgusting. In some ways, it’s not just the circumstances of Enke’s life that lead him to those train tracks, but the invasion of privacy and over preoccupation with others that has become even more omnipresent in the digital age.
Imagine standing in a stadium full of thousands of fans and feeling completely alone. So often we equate “success” with money, performance and achievement and think that it is all we need to be happy. People wondered why Enke would have taken his life, considering his “success.” His wife, in a very memorable statement, said that they “always thought love would be enough to see things through, but it wasn’t.” Not money, not love, not success could alleviate the pain. Alone amongst thousands.
We scrutinize athletes constantly. Some people may argue that the athletes chose their professions and should be prepared for the criticism that comes with it, but no athlete signs up to be made into a god. No matter how long the list of achievements, no matter how many medals or how many trophies, they are only men. With all their highs, lows, perfections and imperfections. They are humans, not gods, and they walk a very fine line.
