Sportsmen also have their demons, and Sbu Nkosi has experienced them. The South African rugby player has experienced depression. Now in recovery, the 27-year-old player, who played for the South African Sharks and Bulls (his current club), looks back on this moment.
We tend to forget it, but top athletes are people like everyone else. And like everyone else, they are prone to depression. This was the case for Sbu Nkosi. The South African international was reported missing in November. Three weeks later, he was found. The rugby player explained at the time that he had fled from the pressure. Since then, he has decided to devote himself to his mental health, away from the oval ball.
"I am doing well. I can say I'm out of the cave," Sbu Nkosi first said in an interview with the Blue Bulls media team. I feel the light on my skin and the wind in my hair. I can feel my spirit being revived again. I felt like I was almost a shadow of the man I was supposed to be and I needed to take a step back and fix the problem before it became a problem."
An accumulation of contrary facts
Next, Sbu Nkosi went into more detail about his period of depression. A condition that according to the winger, comes to a crescendo. "The pressure is mounting. We have fans, we have family. Everyone is looking at us with those big bright eyes that we never want to disappoint. Me, being the emotional creature that I am, these things tend to have a heavier impact on people like me. I've been told that I centralize everything under emotion, so I've learned to deal with that over the past couple of months," he confesses.
🚨 Sbu Speaks 🚨
Watch the full interview here: https://t.co/cudyBFwsHG pic.twitter.com/2NBIGZOGWk
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) February 10, 2023
On the other hand, Sbu Nkosi emphasized the help of the people around him. This has helped him to overcome this ordeal. "I don't think there's a specific time [when it started], but I think those are major triggers along the way of this absolutely vile buildup of energy and it started at the Sharks in the last few months of my time there. Then I came here [Bulls] to this beautiful environment and it woke me up. There are incredible players, good coaches and the people upstairs are there for us, so I was relieved. At some point, everything started to get heavier again and something that looked like bad luck piled on top of each other." This week, the Springbok resumed training with his club. A good omen for the revival of his career.
