Depression is no longer a taboo word in the mouths of top athletes.
Sometimes subject to overwhelming pressure, an obligation of results and criticism on social networks, champions now agree to speak publicly about their flaws and their moments of weakness while they remain symbols of performance.
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Edinson Cavani addressed this subject in an interview with the Spanish site Relevoen revealing that he had been in therapy for a long time.
“
I have been in therapy for many years.
We grew up in a generation with parents who tell you not to cry, that you can't relax or express your emotions.
Since you cannot show weakness, you are brought up with a shell that makes you think you are stronger than everyone else.
There are very strong people, but in the end they end up falling.
You are not a superhero, the one who can manage everything, help the family, score every Sunday …
”, first confides the striker, a player with exemplary behavior in a locker room.
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“El Matador” continues his confidences by destroying the myth of the champion on his pedestal, and condemned to remain there.
“
It's a lie to fight to always be the best.
There will always be someone above you, who has or knows more than you, who is more beautiful than you, etc.
", he adds, specifying in the process that he called a psychotherapist for first time after the comeback against FC Barcelona in the Champions League.
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In 2017, Paris SG, winner of the round of 16 first leg at the Parc des Princes against the Spaniards (4-0), collapsed in the second leg (6-1 defeat), exploding like a vulgar popcorn in the Camp Nou pressure cooker.
And Edinson Cavani, like his teammates, could do nothing to stop the Catalan machine.
"
It touched me a lot and there are things that overload you.
In five minutes, everything we were doing changed.
It's such a big kick, that you can't control and although it's football it affects other parts of your person, with symptoms of anxiety, cold sweats, I had the dizziness while falling asleep and I was already afraid to fall asleep... I asked myself: 'Do I have a problem in my head?'.
I went to see the PSG doctor, whom I adore, and he said to me: "What is happening to you, is happening to a lot of people in different fields."
I understood that he was not a superhero
, ”detailed the FC Valence striker.