This Australian Tennis Star Almost Took Her Own Life A Few Weeks Ago And She Courageously Opened Up About Her Mental Health On Instagram
Although some of the world’s great athletes are often praised for their stellar games and technique, many of them tend to struggle with their mental health. However, it seems that sadly, many of them choose not to talk about it.
Australian tennis star Jelena Dokic is changing that narrative after opening up on Instagram about how she had almost taken her life a couple of months ago.
You may recognize Jelena’s name, as she won six Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) titles and has worked in media broadcasting since she retired from tennis in 2014.
Not to mention that she reached the position of being the 4th tennis player in the world rankings!
Despite her success, Jelena has still had issues with her mental health and almost took her own life this April.
Thankfully Jelena is okay and even was brave enough to make an Instagram post that shares her story.
“I almost jumped off my 26th floor balcony and took my own life,” writes Jelena. “Everything is blurry. Everything is dark. No tone, no picture, nothing makes sense. Just tears, sadness, depression, anxiety, and pain.”
Jelena has been through a lot of extremely difficult times. Some of them are listed in her recent book release, her autobiography Unbreakable, where she details many instances of abuse that took place when her father was around.
Instagram; pictured above is Jelena
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Although Jelena was able to grow and create one of the world’s greatest tennis careers for herself, she still struggled with depression and dark thoughts.
She describes a particularly difficult time period in her life, saying, “The last six months have been tough.”
“It’s been constant crying everywhere. From hiding in the bathroom when at work to wipe away my tears so that nobody sees it to the unstoppable crying at home within my four walls has been unbearable.”
It got to the point where on April 28th, Jelena came extremely close to jumping off her balcony on the 26th floor of her building. Looking back on it, Jelena describes that she will never forget that dark day.
“I pulled myself off the edge. I don’t even know how I managed to do it. Getting professional help saved my life,” she explains.
Jelena then goes on to write about how important it is that not only athletes but everyone in the world strive to be more honest and vulnerable when it comes to talking about mental struggles.
That although her briefly sharing her balcony story may seem intense, the more candid people become about these kinds of things, the less alone others may feel.
“I am writing this because I know I am not the only one struggling,” Jelena says. “I’m fighting, and I believe I can get through this.”
“Here is to fighting and surviving to live and see another day.”
Thank you for your bravery, Jelena. To view Jelena’s Instagram post, visit the link here.
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