The D in Cricket: ‘Declaring’ Depression.

By: Alisha Rai

Photo: Archana Arora

Often seen as a sport of glitz and glamour, cricketing culture has often overlooked the mental impact it has on players specifically at professional levels. In an exclusive interview with Cheteshwar Pujara, an Indian Test cricketer and captain of Sussex County Cricket Club, he discusses the mental issues endured by athletes. These challenges include the inevitable pressure to succeed, the constant fear of failure and the unceasing scrutiny and analysis by the media and public.

The pursuit of success is a never-ending hustle in the world of professional cricket, frequently accompanied by performance pressure. As Cheteshwar Pujara stated in our recent interview with him, “When you are playing at the highest level, you will have a lot of pressure — one is to succeed, to perform for the national team. And cricket being the prime sport in the country, you are always in the limelight.” This expectation of success can often be intertwined with depression, in cricket as well as other competitive sports.

Depression is known to thrive when people neglect their physical and mental health. Typically, when athletes are chasing their goals, basic self-care necessities such as sleep, proper nutrition, social interaction, and mindfulness practices may be forsaken. Pujara emphasises how yoga and breathing exercises help him maintain his mental strength.

His insights delve further into this idea concerning pre-competition anxiety. “I fortunately haven't dealt with it on many occasions. Maybe once in a while or maybe when I was young, I did feel a little bit of anxiety before a game,” Pujara mentioned.

While not uncommon, pre-competition anxiety can manifest as the fear of not meeting expectations, especially at a young age or when one is relatively new to professional cricket. However, Pujara provided advice on how to tackle this. He emphasised how it is crucial to shift one’s focus away from these expectations before a match to be able to play with the right mindset. Playing in a clear and calm mental state has allowed him to excel and avoid pre-competition anxiety.

Failure is forever a looming shadow in a highly competitive environment such as cricket. The pressure to excel at every match, every inning and every delivery pushes a tremendous burden on cricketers. When they fall short of these expectations it can lead to a sense of disappointment and self-doubt. If left unaddressed for long periods, this sense of inadequacy can cause a spiral into mental health challenges such as depression. This cycle’s periodic nature cannot be ignored in a sport where individual achievement is closely linked to the team’s success.

However, it is not only internal factors that can contribute to mental pressures in competitive sports but also external factors, with the most prominent one being the media. Apart from the watchful gaze of fans in stadiums, athletes are constantly monitored via media, both digital and traditional. Social media, specifically, can contribute to degrading an athlete’s mental well-being. While it does offer a platform for athletes to interact with fans and share glimpses into their personal lives, they may be subjected to a constant barrage of negative comments and criticism from online trolls, which can lead to feelings of isolation, anxiety, and depression. The impact of online scrutiny can leave a long-lasting mark on an athlete even after it has passed. Additionally, traditional media platforms such as newspapers and television programmes dissect every move made by an athlete from the field to their personal lives.

Moreover, many times, public scrutiny even leads to the fear of admitting or recognising the symptoms of depression. Athletes may hesitate to complete a depression assessment due to concerns about coaches discovering their scores or apprehensions regarding how others might react if they admit to being depressed. There is also always the stigma-induced emphasis on being ‘fine’, especially after losing a game, which makes it difficult for sports psychologists to provide athletes with the support they require. In the interview, Pujara mentioned how changing the way athletes view professional help -- and the receiving of it -- could happen if more athletes openly visited sports psychologists and included mental health care in their training regimen. The stigma associated with mental health in sports might be gradually eliminated by standardising this practice.

Sports teach us that achieving success requires navigating both the limelight as well as mental struggles such as depression that often emerge as a consequence of the former. Success goes far beyond the limitations of the stadium. Internal expectations and media and public scrutiny come into place as just a few facets of an endless number of burdens for these athletes to carry. Let us not only applaud the centuries and wickets but also the resilience and strength that many athletes such as Cheteshwar Pujara carry themselves with every day. It is time to challenge the ‘tough’ mentality and instead bring rise to a sports culture that values an individual’s well-being above all.

Bibliography:

1. Lambert, T. "Pressure And Sports: The Pressure to Win, Succeed, And to Be the Best." Bleacher Report, 28 September 2017, https://bleacherreport.com/articles/274622-pressure-and-sports-the-pressure-to-win-succeed-and-to-be-the-best.

2. APA PsycNet. (n.d.). https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2013-38202-001

3. Hackett, B. (2019, July 15). Performance Pressure and Depression Go Hand-in-Hand – How Today’s Hardworking Professionals Are at Risk — Brendan Hackett, LCSW. Brendan Hackett, LCSW. https://www.brendanhackett.com/blog/2019/7/15/performance-pressure-and-depression-go-hand-in-hand-how-todays-hardworking-professionals-are-at-risk