"I realised I needed help" - Benoit Paire reveals battles with depression

| by Drew Tate

Benoit Paire posted a 14-55 combined record this year and last year and the French player recently admitted he's been dealing with depression.

Mental health has been a taboo topic in sports and society for a very long time but athletes are feeling more comfortable speaking about these topics in recent years and more and more have come forward with their struggles. The latest is Benoit Paire as he admitted to dealing with depression. It's not so much surprising as it was clear that something was bothering him in his life.

He clearly hinted at it a couple of times in the past saying that it's been tough to focus on tennis fully. In a recent interview, he went into more detail saying:

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"My head, I don’t know when it will get better. It’s an injury that can be very long and I hope it will be as short as possible. I realised that I needed help and that I needed to be better on the court. I’m seeing shrinks, a lot of people to try to understand what’s happening to me. On my own, I couldn’t cope. I see a hypnotist, a psychologist. I have a mental trainer to discuss a lot of things to try to correct this.”

He further expanded:

"It’s difficult because I don’t necessarily feel happy in my life, because tennis is complicated. What I need to do is to find the right balance, to celebrate, but also to be serious and to prepare well for tournaments. That’s what I’m having a bit of trouble doing at the moment. That’s why I’m going to start from scratch. It’s been two days since I last drank alcohol (smile), I’m in the middle of a cure."

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And finished off with:

"I have a little bit of stress coming onto a court, when that’s what I enjoyed when I was good before. Even without practising a lot, I was able to come out with big matches because I liked that, the adrenaline,” Paire added. “I used to like the stressful moments and now it’s become more and more complicated. As soon as I’m stressed, I get anxious and panic.”

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