a recent interview<\/a> with Serbian journalist Sasa Ozmo. The 24-time Major champion believes that mental health struggles boil down to three prevalent reasons.<\/p>\nNovak Djokovic Reveals Three Main Factors Behind Mental Health Struggles In Tennis<\/h2>\n1. Social Media<\/h2>\n
As most people would agree, social media plays a key role in fueling negative emotions. Tennis players try to avoid staying within the social media circles. But the nature of their job doesn’t allow them to. They need to connect with tennis fans and honor the contractual obligations of their sponsors. So it\u2019s a necessity that they maintain a digital presence when they step away from the court.<\/p>\n
But as many know by now, social media has its cons too, with surging cases of anxiety. Some players have resorted to consuming antidepressants to suppress the feeling.<\/p>\n
Djokovic said, “The first thing that comes to mind is that social media is extremely present and largely dictates the mood and daily rhythm of an athlete–especially young ones, but older ones too. Everyone is on social media, and you can get lost there, get too attached to comments, to what someone types on a keyboard or phone… and that hurts. It\u2019s not trivial. That\u2019s something we need to talk about seriously.”<\/p>\n
2. Lack of emotional intelligence<\/h2>\n
In his second point, Djokovic believes young players are being rushed into full-time competition without honing their emotional intelligence. The pressures of professional life and balancing outside interests eventually become a burden. Consequently, players pay that price at the expense of their long-term well-being.<\/p>\n
Djokovic is quoted as saying, “There are various other factors. The fact is, in my opinion, that kids are pushed too early into strict professionalism, before they\u2019ve developed emotional intelligence, which is part of psychological preparation for life. When a talent is spotted, they push them professionally–just play, play, play–and then all sorts of agents latch on, those with interest in success, and they push the player to play as much as possible so they earn more. It\u2019s a vicious circle, and if a player gets a bit lost in that, it can strongly affect their psyche and how they live their life.”<\/p>\n
Embed from Getty Images<\/a>