Living in a sporting goldfish bowl proved too much for goalkeeper Robert Enke - but why?

UNLESS you are a footballing anorak, the German international goalkeeper Robert Enke will probably mean very little.
But on November 10th, 2009, then aged just 32 and with the World Cup in South Africa just around the corner, the Hannover player stepped in front of a train. Enke left a wife Teresa, and a young daughter, Laila, who had been adopted just two years after the death in 2006 of their first daughter, Lara, who had a heart defect.
The story of Robert Enke's life and his battle with depression is an extremely sobering one, and the subject of a fascinating book, "A Life Too Short - The Tragedy of Robert Enke" which was written by his close friend Ronald Reng.
When you read biographies you feel as if you personally know the subject, when of course you know very little. Yet here you're left screaming at the pages as you can see the vortex of despair which Enke was spiralling down, despite the help of friends and family.
Enke seemed to have everything, having played for Benfica, Barcelona and at the time of his death was recognised as Germany's best goalkeeper. He was well rewarded for his sport, and enjoyed the trappings of that success. But it clearly was not enough.
I've read cricketer Marcus Trescothick's "Coming Back to Me" and rugby's Brian Moore with "Beware of the Dog", two very candid biographies which tackle the taboo subjects of sporting self-doubt and depression.
We've not so long ago come to terms with the suicide of Wales football manager, Gary Speed, and there are countless tales of those who have not been able to handle the goldfish bowl of celebrity that their sports endure.
I was immensely moved by the Enke biography.
I went online to look back at his life and coverage of his death. It is an unbelievable tragedy which you feel should have been averted. Yet despite having the very best professional help, and in spite of knowing what hell he would put his family and friends through with his death, Enke still stepped in front of the passing train.
It is so easy to be unsympathetic to the issue of mental health among well-paid sports professionals. However this book shows that unlike ordinary folk, when you are in that goldfish bowl there is no hiding place for that depression. The goldfish bowl breeds insecurity. The more you try to hide, the worse it becomes.
Ronald Reng's book is a brilliant read, and if you ever want to understand depression and the trauma of being mentally ill, this will give you an amazing insight.

I've had a week off at home with Ross when the weather hasn't been too bad. We had one miserable day in Brighton, but then today, the first day of August, we hit the beach in Eastbourne on a glorious, sun-kissed day.
The one moment of note was when a couple of seagulls started picking at our picnic bag while Ross and I were jumping in the waves, and one of them flew off with his little box of raisins! Just for good measure, the picnic bag then got pooped on. I suppose that is a sign of good luck, isn't it?!
A little later on, a family had brought pizzas and chips onto the beach, half eaten their grub before hitting the water, and while they were in the sea the seagulls attacked to leave a heck of a mess.
Seagulls are part and parcel of living by the beach. They wake you up at stupid 'o clock in the morning, leave rubbish strewn everywhere, but are part of the backdrop of seaside living.
However, we've been reporting in our papers recently of mis-behaving seagulls dive-bombing postman, attacking people in the street, and in the case of one pensioner in Bexhill, flying off with her false teeth.
The seagulls in Eastbourne are fat blighters. In fact, if Slimming World had a seagull section they'd do well in East Sussex. The problem is that people feed the seagulls, who then fearlessly walk up to your beach blanket and try to steal food.
Surely the time has come to do something about it. I'm not going as far as suggesting a seagull cull, but surely the council needs to look at reducing the amount of domestic waste left in our streets, and dissuading visitors from feeding the gulls.

Last year, Brighton & Hove Council considered the cull option to prevent gulls from spreading rubbish across the streets, but stepped back from going this far.
Now in Edinburgh, one resident is calling for a gull cull and has launched a "Leith Against Seagulls" Facebook page.
As the Edinburgh Evening News reported:
The city’s burgeoning gull population has long caused problems across the Capital, with homeowners complaining of rubbish being left strewn all over the road, early-morning wake-up calls, and even being attacked by the birds.
In an open letter to the council, the man, known only as James, wrote: “The Council Seagull division has exactly one week to respond and take action or I will instruct the people of Leith to dowse bread in bicarbonate of soda and feed it to the seagulls.”
The Facebook page has gained 1300 “likes” in under a week.
Eastbourne faces similar problems. Walking to work in the morning, you can see rubbish strewn over the beach and across the pavement as gulls have wreaked havoc in the night.
The council needs to do something.