Izzy Biggin
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| Being at the pinnacle brings it's own pressures. Photo: Alexandre Moreau |
Last November England cricket
batsman Jonathon Trott departed from Ashes tour of Australia due to a
long-standing ‘stress-related illness’. This was a shock for some of the media.
Do such things happen to elite cricketers? In contrast, others speculated that
cricket has a particular problem. After all, fellow England batsmen Marcus
Trescothick and Graeme Fowler have had their own battles with depression. However, with other sporting
legends, such as boxer Frank Bruno and Olympic medallists Dame Kelly Holmes and Victoria Pendleton also disclosing struggles with
mental health issues a unique place for cricketers seems unlikely. Given the
particular set of pressures on elite athletes (fame, wealth, expectation),
perhaps it may be more prudent to consider the risks of being at the pinnacle
of physical achievement.
Many of us
will suffer from the kinds of distress that gets labelled a mental health
problem when dealing with the demands of everyday life. Is it really
surprising that elite athletes, with their pressures to consistently perform,
are at risk of developing psychological difficulties too? As icons of physical
perfection it may be that we assume that they have equitable superhuman mental
strength as well. It’s also worth giving some thought to what happens when an
elite athlete is no longer elite. Or what happens when an athlete is no longer
an athlete. What happens on retirement, or when an athlete suffers a drop in
form, is left out of the team, or is injured? When the elite athlete identity,
formed by a lifetime of early morning starts, gruelling training schedules and
countless social sacrifices, is no longer applicable, it would be surprising if
there were not some consequences for self-esteem and psychological well-being.
