Sebastien Vettel discussed how sports stars should talk more openly about mental health struggles, rather than it being seen as a sign of weakness. The German - who announced that he will be retiring from Formula 1 at the end of the year - says there is "no Superman" when it comes to how athletes deal with self doubt, believing that it would show off the humility of sport if conversations were more open. "If I've learned anything its you're never alone with the thoughts you have. And you're not the first one to have these thoughts," Vettel told media, including RacingNews365.com . "I think it would be great if we were able to share this more often because it shows the humility that maybe we're lacking in sports because we are projecting hero worship into certain roles. "We're all human, we all go through the same stuff, same challenges, and there is no Superman or Superwoman... except on TV!"
Vettel: Mental health struggles nothing to be "ashamed of"
Both Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris have been open about their mental health struggles in the past, the latter revealing that he had undergone therapy. Other athletes including tennis stars Emma Raducanu and Coco Gauff have also spoken about prioritising mental health struggles, while England cricket star Ben Stokes took a break from the game "to prioritise his mental well-being" last year. Vettel considers it a "weakness in our society" that people don't air their feelings in public. He added: "It's nothing to be ashamed of. If you break your leg, what do you do? You go to the doctor and you ask him to fix it. "The Wise move would have been, what can I do to prevent me from breaking my leg? We don't seem to apply the same thing when it comes to mental health. "I see it is weakness in our society because it gets seen as a sign of weakness, if you talk about your feelings and you open up. "There's a lot more happening today than there was 30 years ago, where you had the impression in sports [that] nobody's weak and nobody has these self doubts."
Most read
