Depression
Depression is a state of feeling sad or losing interest about life activities such as cutting one communication with others thereby sliding deep into self thought, empathy, regrets and finally suicide in a worst case scenario. Last month was a very busy month for Nigeria media houses reporting cases of suicides. It became topic of discuss as social media messages advising people to seek help or show kindness to the nest person flooded individual privacy and groups.While I have never being in a position to condemn individuals who have followed such part but some excuses some people gave in form of suicide note were too lame for me to come into term with. However, we all have our different capacity to handle difficult situation. Some own up their nemesis to fate others try to put the blame on themselves or other.
Emmanuel Ebue is no new person when it comes to players who have suffered depression to a point of taking their life. Ebue became a popular player while playing for Arsenal football club on the English premier league where he was earning thousands of pounds on weekly basics between the year 2004 to 2011 before moving to a Turkish side Galatasaray. The Ivorian like most football players where discovered from the street and didn’t have the opportunity or rather the privilege to go to school. When he was making enough money in his career failed to invest both on himself or else where.
How it started
Emmanual Ebue was forced to retire from football after suffering a FIFA ban which made him ineligible to play for any club site in the world on a professional basis. This was as result of negotiation dispute with his agent who claimed to have foreseen his move from Arsenal to Galatasaray while Ebue claimed to have done the negotiation himself. However, FIFA was on the side of the Agent at the end of the day which led to his one year ban and contract termination in Sunderland. Amidst this problem,, Ebue lost his grandfather who brought him up as a child and a father with other 12 children and had lost his brother through a motorbike accident.
Following a divorce with estranged wife whom he lost all his live servings, house and children to without a cent left on him. Over the course of their marriage, being a illiterate, Ebue trusted his wife that he would sign any document Aurelie his wife presented to him without going through the content. When the issue of the divorce came up; the judge base on evidence and signatures of documents awarded everything he has laboured for to his wife. Emmanuel Ebue became penniless to the extent he couldn’t afford a washing machine and had to sleep on the floor in a sister’s house. Some much afraid of the copes coming after when his house in Enfield was given to the wife.
He sank into deep depression that he thought about suicide many times. Being afraid of the cops and a dead football career, Ebue said he locked himself up for three to four days in his house without putting on the light to avoid the neighbours or police noticing he was around. However said reading his bible really helped him overcome the suicide thought.
Conclusion
One statement that has kept him going, not the thing he lost over the year even when he was left with option of selling his cloths but the promise to keep fighting. Today, despite never to be a happy man has picked up his piece after going back to this country to get a new wife. In a recent interview, Ebue said the depression is now part of his life as most time he has to use drugs to manage it but will never give up. Hope we learn some lesson from this.
Thanks for reading.
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