Psychological problems in football: When fear plays a role – football

Lina Bürger was 11 when national soccer player Sebastian Deisler ended his career at the beginning of 2007 due to psychological problems. Almost three years later, the young person read about Robert Enke’s suicide. The national goalkeeper suffered from severe depression. “I was already very interested in football back then. I can still remember both events very well.” Especially in the Enke case, she can still recall the moment when she learned the shocking news of his death. “I couldn’t believe it,” she says in an interview with SWR Sport.

These events had something to do with the young footballer who was born in Wiesbaden. “Those were really big exclamation points. I realized that there was this issue of mental health.”

Talking about “mood swings” but not about anxiety and depression in football

The talented footballer came to Hoffenheim when she was 15. The striker made it into the DFB’s youth national teams and played 75 Bundesliga games for TSG Hoffenheim and later for SC Freiburg. Depression or anxiety was almost never discussed among teammates. In injury situations it is more likely to be about “mood breakdowns” or “mood swings”.

Bürger’s career was marked by injuries. At the age of 26, she had to end her sporting career early due to severe knee problems. A tough time for the athlete. She mentally fell into a hole. “I didn’t communicate this much in the club and got external support. I understand that many people do it that way.” She knows:

The topic of mental health never left her, it became more and more important to her. Bürger began studying psychology in Heidelberg. The topic of her master’s thesis was quickly found. With her study she wanted to find out: What is the mental health of the footballers at TSG Hoffenheim?

The doors were open to her. In Hoffenheim they have been dealing with this topic for many years. Hans-Dieter Hermann, psychologist for the DFB team, worked for TSG for years, Hoffenheim managing director Jan Mayer is a highly recognized sports psychologist. And with the TSG Research Lab there was a research institute on site where regular diagnostics are carried out. This made Bürger’s work easier.

Feedback from 205 active players from the U12 to the professionals

The former professional footballer, who looks after the Hoffenheim teams from U12 to U14 as a sports psychologist, expanded her environment: Over the entire 2022/23 season, she worked with eleven TSG Hoffenheim teams – from the U12 to the professionals (men and women) – together. In total, statements from 205 actors about symptoms of depression and anxiety disorders were included in the study. The coaching staff was not interviewed.

The players were asked for information four times during the season. This made it possible to understand how the players felt at the start of the season – and how this changed over the course of the season.

The most important results of the study:

There are also people in professional football who are affected by depression and anxiety disorders

As in the general population, there are people in the TSG Hoffenheim teams who are affected by depression and anxiety disorders. This applies to all teams participating in the study. There was no team in the survey that was not affected. And: As in the general population, women in Hoffenheim are more susceptible to depression and anxiety disorders.

Symptoms increased as the season progressed

A football season can be taxing not only on the body, but also on your mental health. While the values ​​were still below average during the summer preparation, they increased as the season progressed. There was a small increase in winter; This corresponds to the values ​​in the normal population (due to, among other things, the darkness and the more unpleasant weather). However, the values ​​did not decrease in spring and towards the end of the season. “The symptoms that occur cannot be attributed solely to a ‘winter effect’,” says Bürger.

Peak anxiety symptoms in winter

While the levels of depressive symptoms rose continuously over the course of the season, anxiety symptoms peaked in the winter. “We attribute this to the fact that a lot of future decisions are made, especially in the winter, at the beginning of the second half of the season: individual contract discussions, decisions in the youth sector, whether you will be taken on to the next year, or the uncertainty about the team’s sporting situation. In the spring, the situation fell This value then returns to the initial level.”

Conclusions from the study

As a first measure, the four psychologists from TSG Hoffenheim presented the results to the trainers in the TSG Academy as part of workshops. Further training for the players is being planned. Lina Bürger thinks it is important that individualized and long-term offers are made for the players. “Offers for a vulnerable group make more sense than for the entire team,” says the psychologist, who is currently training as a psychotherapist for children and young people at the University of Heidelberg. It is also important to raise awareness in the environment that there is an unstable phase for the players in winter. “Then you shouldn’t build up unnecessary pressure,” advises Bürger.

In addition to the workshops, the association has promoted cooperation with the Heidelberg University Hospital. Affected players can contact experts in the field of sports psychiatry directly here.

Every professional has to decide for themselves whether to go public

It is important to citizens and TSG Hoffenheim that the public becomes increasingly aware of the issue of mental health. It would help if prominent football professionals such as Robin Gosens, Timo Baumgartl, Nils Petersen, Martin Amedick, Markus Miller and Per Mertesacker spoke about it openly and publicly. She herself wouldn’t pressure any active professional to go public with their mental problems. “Everyone has to decide for themselves. It can be liberating, but also stigmatizing. It’s no coincidence that many former athletes first… after comment on this topic throughout their careers.” In general, professional football can still learn a lot.

Mental strength is the ability to perform at your best even under adverse circumstances. Competitive athletes need this ability in every competition. However, it does not mean that you are mentally healthy at the same time. Athletes are exposed to massive stress during their careers. This can weaken your mental health.

With today’s knowledge, Bürger would have done a few things differently back then, as an active professional soccer player. “As a player, I would have gotten regular support from a sports psychologist – especially when I was injured, but also when things were going well. So that you can get a certain routine, exchange ideas regularly and stay in touch.”

She now imparts these and other important insights, especially to young footballers. But the Hoffenheim professionals will also continue to be involved in this important process.