Vertigo 7 wrote: ↑Wed, 24. Feb 21, 22:03
BrasatoAlBarolo wrote: ↑Wed, 24. Feb 21, 09:12
I've always been shocked by professional sportsmen doing drugs. I mean, why? You know you're going to be caught, and it is going to end your career!
In my thoughts, I created a plausible explanation: imagine yourself, a teenager, getting the first contract for a top team. You suddently go from "normal guy" (sometimes even less than normal, economically) to "filthy rich guy". If you have no psychological help (from your parents, your team, a professional would be better), you're likely going to lose your mind, because you are not "ready" to be that rich. Wealth needs education, in some ways. It's not just sports, if you think about it: young movie stars or singers end up struggling with auto-destructive behaviour when their careers boom.
It's not just that. There's peer pressure, often from fellow teammates and sometimes even the coaches themselves. Look at Russia. Didn't their entire Olympic team get busted for steroids? Or most of it, at any rate?
It's not really a wealth thing, imho. Sure, rich kids have the means to buy drugs at their disposal, but whatever the motivation was to do it in the first place has little to do with wealth. And there's so many reasons why people choose to do drugs or drink. Perhaps the most prevlant reasons being an inability to cope with pressure (looking for an escape), and the afore mentioned peer pressure. And there's others like curiosity or social/recreational use. It's all very situational.
Wait, I'm not talking about drugs which improve their performance, I'm talking about recreational drugs. But it's not only that, it's about burning their money and doing very stupid things (like normal youngsters, although they're not normal youngsters).
I'm making an example: the difference between Del Piero and Cassano, two equally talented football players. Both of them, at a very young age, got huge contracts (one for Juventus, the other one for Inter). One of them had a careful society, with a professional staff of psychologists. The other one, did a lot of crazy stuff throughout his career and because of that, never showed his potential (and trust me: he's one of the most technical players I've ever seen). You can do a similar example with Balotelli, you British may know a little more than Cassano: impressive potential screwed by the lack of a proper psychological aid.
You know: one thing I really don't like about Italian culture is how underestimated psychology is. I'm not talking about the American way of doing it (like: my child plays too much, so I gave him Xanax to calm him down!), but we act like depression or "minor" psychological issues (e.g. the ones you experience after a trauma - which can also be "winning the lottery") are just fake illnesses you can cure with a glass of water and some relax on the sofa. If you're depressed, all you need to do is smile.
