It isn’t necessarily that being an Olympian ends up being depressing, but some of the people with the talent to make it as a top athlete with the focus and competitive drive that requires may be more prone to experience intense lows when the high fades.
“Some of it is predestined,” sports psychologist and former competitive skater Caroline Silby told the New York Times. “The DNA is such that these individuals would be faced with these issues regardless of their Olympic prowess. Some of it is developed through habits and practices that feed the athletic quest for excellence but drive these individuals further away from being healthy, productive non-athletes.”
