What a year for British sport! Even the much trumpeted barely avoidable clapfest of Sports Personality of The Year (#SPOTY if you missed its social media handle) missed out on the final triumph with England's cricketing comeback in the subcontinent.
Following a remarkable year, which included the London 2012 Olympics, Bradley Wiggins success at the Tour de France, and Andy Murray's success at Flushing Meadow, a recent BBC news article by Peter Crutchley, asks the question 'why do so many athletes struggle with retirement'? The article looks at why successful sportsmen such as Ricky Hatton and Andrew Flintoff suffered from depression following retirement and their desire to return to professional sport, with mixed results.
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| Ricky Hatton with a sympathetic referee at the end of his comeback fight with Vyacheslav Senchenko |
The article describes athletes going through a process of grieving and describing a sense of loss. This has some athletes struggling to come to terms with their retirement despite their body telling them it's time to stop. This struggle may be due to changes of habit, and can be exaggerated by changes in training routines that also have biological impacts, such as a reduction in the generation of serotonin. Serotonin being the chemical released by the body that helps us cope with stress, counteracting the chemicals released in the fight or flight activities replicated in sport.
Athletes set short term, often weekly goals on the field or track, and periodised goals in the gym & over a season. Away from the institutionalised world that many athletes inhabit and with an absence of such goal-setting, how can lives be best managed?
Athletes set short term, often weekly goals on the field or track, and periodised goals in the gym & over a season. Away from the institutionalised world that many athletes inhabit and with an absence of such goal-setting, how can lives be best managed?
Additionally it can be difficult for athletes to try to replace the euphoria and andrenaline/endorphin highs experienced when competing in front of thousands of supporters.
To read the full article please click here
We should spare a thought for the ex-sporting athletes as they seek to build their lives following retirement-even if sometimes families can benefit from an enhanced parenting role free from sacrifices & time demands of chosen sport. It is not always thus however, and depression can have negative consequences for families of the sportsman 'bereaved' & 'grief' for their lost youth/career/past glory.
It may not always be easy-never mind having to deal with the effect of injury or the consequences from sport (see our blog from May: Pressures of Fame SPACE Blog May 2012).
It may not always be easy-never mind having to deal with the effect of injury or the consequences from sport (see our blog from May: Pressures of Fame SPACE Blog May 2012).
Like any grieving process, retirement can take time to come to terms with. So whilst the footballers of today may forego their Christmas Dinner with the family for the nation's Boxing Day entertainment, the reality is that it truly is a short career, with another truism echoing in footballers' ears like those in cricketers, boxers, gymnasts etc: you are a long time retired.
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