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• NHMH Partner Calls for UN Summit on Global Mental Health
• Rosemarie S. Fee -- A Remembrance of a Special Life
• World-Class Football Star's Depression and Suicide Stirs International Debate on Mental Illness Stigma
• Victoria Maxwell

Robert Enke had been a goalkeeper of the German National Football/Soccer team, and captain of “Hannover 96” – a longstanding, well-known and successful team in Germany’s top football/soccer league. This in a sport where German teams have consistently, for decades, been among the very best in the world.

In addition to his athletic prowess, Enke had also gained recognition and popularity for his active involvement in a variety of German charities, including organizations helping children with congenital heart problems, and those working to eliminate cruelty towards animals. In 2006, Enke was named the Sports Personality of the Year for Niedersachen (Lower Saxony).

On the evening of November 10, 2009, Robert Enke took his own life by stepping in front of a train near his hometown of Hannover. When the news of the death, by suicide, of the 32 year old sports icon, became known, the reaction was one of shock and profound sadness. And the question was asked: Why? Why Enke, who had been famous for his inspirational motivation, positive outlook, and who had demonstrated resiliance after physical injury-related setbacks to his career.

The next day, Enke’s widow, Theresa, and his therapist, revealed in a press conference a fact that had not been generally known to the public, nor in fact to Enke’s own friends and colleagues. He had been treated regularly for depression during the previous six years. Theresa Enke explained that one of the reasons they had not spoken out openly about his depression was the fear that their adopted daughter might be taken away from them, should his depression be made public. The couple had adopted a girl in 2006, after their biological daughter had died that same year, at the age of 2, due to a congenital heart problem. According to Teresa Enke, her husband avoided talking about his depression in public in order to protect their familly’s privacy and to avoid jeopardizing his football career.

Enke’s case has not only caused a profound public shock in Germany, it has also reverberated throughout the world, due to his fame as a world-class, international sports star. Most importantly, it has triggered an intense debate and discussion in Germany and in the international media, on the subject of mental illness in the world of professional sports, as well as the fear of going public with mental disorders and risking being stigmatized or discriminated against.