Robert Enke had it all. He was the national goalkeeper for Germany's professional soccer team. He had 45,000 adoring fans. He was married. He had what every guy wants: a means to survive comfortably, a beautiful partner to fuck, and the respect of other human beings.
And yet Robert Enke threw himself under a commuter train.
A lot of people will say that suicide is like the Darwin Awards' acts of stupidity: anybody who does it probably deserved to die anyway. But having worked with, lived with, and intimately known sufferers of depression, I gotta say that that's not always the case. Some people suffer from overwhelming situational depression that has nothing to do with their genetics, which means they can't be blamed for being inferior specimens by those critics who feel like suicidal intent is a genetic flaw. Others suffer from an imbalance of neurotransmitters in the brain with its root at the genetic level, and are thus immune to criticisms from those who would say that depression is something which you should tough out and man up to. The fact is, depression can be both, one, or the other of these archetypes, and that means that if you're a compassionate human being that it deserves your attention. You can't lump all suicides together: each one is different.
I don't live in Germany and I haven't been keeping up with my Euro football for several years now, so I can't say as I know the name "Robert Enke," but at 45,000 fans turning up for his funeral, I'm willing to bet that this man was nationally-renowned and is -- was -- probably also internationally respected by hundreds of thousands as a goalie, footballer, or athlete. I also don't know whether Mr. Enke's depression was situational (e.g. the death of his 2-year old daughter), genetic (e.g. he's been struggling with depression for six years, and most situational depression wears off after about a year, two years tops), or a mix of both. I don't know if he was a good man or a corrupt man.
But I do know this: if a man who has it all -- fame, fortune, and sex -- can still feel depressed enough to kill himself, it just goes to show that the tens of millions of human beings who claim to be severely depressed are probably not all being crybabies or making shit up. After all, most of the planet can't claim to be as famous, wealthy, or well-laid as Robert Enke could have.
And yet Robert Enke threw himself under a commuter train.
A lot of people will say that suicide is like the Darwin Awards' acts of stupidity: anybody who does it probably deserved to die anyway. But having worked with, lived with, and intimately known sufferers of depression, I gotta say that that's not always the case. Some people suffer from overwhelming situational depression that has nothing to do with their genetics, which means they can't be blamed for being inferior specimens by those critics who feel like suicidal intent is a genetic flaw. Others suffer from an imbalance of neurotransmitters in the brain with its root at the genetic level, and are thus immune to criticisms from those who would say that depression is something which you should tough out and man up to. The fact is, depression can be both, one, or the other of these archetypes, and that means that if you're a compassionate human being that it deserves your attention. You can't lump all suicides together: each one is different.
I don't live in Germany and I haven't been keeping up with my Euro football for several years now, so I can't say as I know the name "Robert Enke," but at 45,000 fans turning up for his funeral, I'm willing to bet that this man was nationally-renowned and is -- was -- probably also internationally respected by hundreds of thousands as a goalie, footballer, or athlete. I also don't know whether Mr. Enke's depression was situational (e.g. the death of his 2-year old daughter), genetic (e.g. he's been struggling with depression for six years, and most situational depression wears off after about a year, two years tops), or a mix of both. I don't know if he was a good man or a corrupt man.
But I do know this: if a man who has it all -- fame, fortune, and sex -- can still feel depressed enough to kill himself, it just goes to show that the tens of millions of human beings who claim to be severely depressed are probably not all being crybabies or making shit up. After all, most of the planet can't claim to be as famous, wealthy, or well-laid as Robert Enke could have.