Noch it is only a prophecy, and yet his words sound like a warning. “We know from many decades of depression and burnout research that overtraining is often related to these diseases,” says Jens Kleinert, Professor of Sports and Health Psychology at the German Sport University in Cologne, the FAZ
The so-called overtraining syndrome is widespread in research, and now Kleinert says: “I assume that the overcompetition syndrome will play an increasingly important role.” He has been dealing with the topic for about fifteen years, talking to athletes about their everyday competition and problems arising from it. He says: “It’s borderline what sometimes happens in professional sport.” Because: Too much sport makes you ill. And that applies not only to the body, but also to the mind.
One person who recognized this years ago is national player Thomas Müller. He has been a professional soccer player since the beginning of 2009 and has played around 800 games since then: Bundesliga, Champions League, DFB Cup, World Cup and European Championship, as well as test matches and training camps on almost every continent.
“You’re allowed to breathe for three weeks, then you’re pushed under water again. Mentally it’s a big burden,” Müller said before the 2016 European Championships. He was just 26 years old, so to speak, in the heyday of his career. Since then, the football schedule has become even tighter and the rest periods have become increasingly rare. These days Müller is spending part of his summer break with the national team to compete in the Nations League.
Professional football has become a hamster wheel for millionaires, who often live their lives to the beat of English weeks. Luka Modric, Real Madrid’s Croatian midfielder, made 24 appearances between 30 September and 20 December 2020 – appearing on the pitch six times for the national team and eighteen for his club. On average, there were only 3.45 days (83 hours) between these games, as the players’ union Fifpro writes in their current Flash Report.
Modric is not an isolated case. Harry Maguire played 19 games for Manchester United in the Premiere League, FA Cup, EFL Cup and Europa League between 20 December 2020 and 21 February 2021, averaging an average break of 3.39 days between them (81.3 hours). Added to this: flights, bus trips, new hotels, different time zones. This workload can often only be endured with painkillers.
Facade of invincibility is crumbling
What can this lead to? If you’re looking for an answer, you have to look beyond football. To tennis. Or for gymnastics, for example. To Naomi Osaka or Simone Biles. Two women who recently spoke openly about their mental health problems and only then brought the discussion about the mental health of top athletes into the public arena. And even if their problems were not only fueled by the physical strain, but also by the immense pressure and expectations they felt, they managed something extraordinary with their openness: the head of athletes is no longer taboo.
