Wednesday, August 18, 2021
“Otherwise it would have turned out badly”
Hinteregger describes the struggle with depression
Martin Hinteregger surprises with the revelation that he has struggled with depression in his career. He shares memories of dark times with the world and wants to be a role model. However, he does not have any great hopes for sustainable change in the industry.
In the opinion of professional soccer player Martin Hinteregger, making his depression public will not have a major impact on the situation of colleagues. “Oh, that doesn’t get any better. After two days everyone has forgotten such issues,” said the Eintracht Frankfurt defender of “Sport Bild”. In his recently published book “Inner View”, the 28-year-old reports on a depression after switching from FC Augsburg to Eintracht.
After “many stories” he was under great pressure from the media. “At that time I was in a vicious circle. You feel so bad, you don’t want to go any further. You make it into training, but that feels bad too,” said the Austrian international, describing his condition at the time. “Nobody knew that I had depression. The discussions with the psychologist were very important, otherwise it would have turned out badly,” said the Austrian.
Hinteregger continues: “You also think of Robert Enke’s case, that’s logical – even if it hadn’t gotten that far for me, it was already very dark. I was totally at the limit and once thought: crap “I can’t take it anymore, I’m done, it’s over.” Former national goalkeeper Robert Enke suffered from depression for many years, unnoticed by the football public. Enke committed suicide on November 10, 2009.
“The only thing that saved me”
The way out came late for him and was more of a coincidence, remembers Hinteregger at an important moment: “Fortunately, I confided in our doctor and said: ‘Hey, it doesn’t work anymore. Give me pills or something.’ I didn’t sleep two or three hours a day for months. Nevertheless, I managed to show my performance. Playing here in the stadium was the only thing that saved me in the meantime. Then I confided in a psychologist. “
Even if he does not expect any change in the industry, Hinteregger sees a point in making his illness public. He wanted to “help a few younger players and above all people outside of football. I think there are many in this group. They are also finished and now hopefully think: Ah, even the professional footballer is looking for help,” said Hinteregger.
Hinteregger wants to donate the net proceeds of the book for various charitable purposes, the demand is great. “That surprised us very much,” said Hinteregger when asked by Sport1: “We had a lot of stress with signing. The family and friends helped with packing. That cost me a lot of stress and nerves. But I am extremely happy that it was is well received. “
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