Pavard suffered from depression
The topic of mental health is also becoming increasingly important in professional sports. More and more athletes and those responsible dare to speak publicly about their own problems. Now Benjamin Pavard has also made a difficult episode of his life public.
As with probably thousands upon thousands of people, the corona pandemic triggered something in the French. “Something was wrong in my head. In the beginning you say it’s nothing, that it will pass, but when you see that it lasts and then you go to training and you don’t have a smile on your face, you have to react,” he said FC Bayern defender told the French newspaper Le Parisien (quote via Spox ). For example, he had a loss of appetite, says Pavard in retrospect.
“Even though I have a nice house…”
The world champion is aware of the privileges of professional athletes with salaries in the millions, but this does not automatically mean that there can be no problems with mental health. “Even though I have a nice house with a gym, I needed human contact,” Pavard emphasizes that the isolation in lockdown made it difficult for him. “I don’t like the word depression, but that was it. I hid it from everyone, but today I’m much better. I emerged from it as a better person. It changed me,” emphasizes the 26-year-old.