Enke hid depression for years before suicide - Germany

German international goalkeeper Robert Enke has been killed after he threw himself under a train at a level crossing, police said on Tuesday.

"There has been fatality at a level crossing at Neustadt am Rubenberge," police spokeswoman Martina Stern told AFP. "He threw himself under a train and died of his injuries. It was definitely suicide."

Jörg Neblung, a close friend and advisor to the six-times capped goalkeeper for the German national football team, said he took his own life.

"I can confirm that it was suicide," he said. "A press conference in Hannover on Wednesday will reveal more details."

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Just terrible. I couldn't imagine having to bury my daughter and then my husband. My condolences and prayers go out to his wife and daughter.

I can't understand how he could do something that would cause such suffering to those he supposedly loved the most. Unless his mental condition was impairing his judgement, then one has to regard it as an insensitive and selfish action.

Oh no. News to make football fans in Germany gasp in shock. How utterly terrible. Poor, poor Robert. My heart aches for him and his family.

depression? maybe something else? cancer, HIV, Divorce?
Poor Guy had the his whole life ahead of him.

Such a sad and tragic thing,but please dont forget the engineer of the train whether it is a male or female engineer who will have to relive the horror for
the rest of their life of someone jumping in front of their train.

Over at Ramstein...about four years ago....we had an officer driving home late at night and someone jumped from the side of the autobahn into their path. Same deal....a suicide. It bothers me that they need someone else to complete their act and they just choose these people at random...and never consider the consequence of the second person involved. It's like a curse that continues to be brought up....years and decades later with the guy driving.

Germany was in shock on Wednesday after football player Robert Enke, who was set to represent his country at the 2010 World Cup, committed suicide by throwing himself under a train after suffering years of depression.

Police said goalkeeper Enke killed himself at a level crossing in the small town of Neustadt am Rübenberge, near Hannover, shortly before 6:00 pm on Tuesday. He was 32.

He leaves behind a widow, Teresa, and a daughter of eight months, Leila, adopted by the couple in May after their two-year-old daughter Lara tragically died of a heart defect in 2006.

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Makes you wonder why.

On the outside he had everything, money, job, fame, family and he goes and tops himself.

Doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Gutted.
Complete waste.
You have to feel for his family and small child too.

The person I feel for the most right now is the train driver. Poor sod, hope HE is doing ok.

Condolences to all concerned in these extremely difficult times. Although not all suicidal or homicidal individuals are depressed, many are.
For anyone concerned about the risk of suicide or other risks, a variety of screening quizzes are available. For example, in the case of depression: see the Beck Depression Inventory, in David Burns' book, Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy.
Stress over time can trigger depression. Resilience is one term used to describe the ability to cope with stress and eventually get back to one's usual ability to function.
Parents, spouses, school staff, students or others interested in resilience might look at the free chapter on resilience at
http://stressedfamily.blogspot.com/2009/08/stressed-family-strong-family-chapter-1.html
or one on vicious cycles in families, such as nagging/procrastinating at
http://stressedfamily.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-to-stop-nagging-blaming-and-other.html

Suicide never makes sense. While it is an incredible selfish act, when a person is so depressed that suicide seems like a good solution, it's hard to say that person is definitively responsible for their actions. Robert Enke was obviously severely depressed. Unfortunately for him he was employed in a profession where showing any kind of weakness is frowned upon, to say the least. It's too bad someone close to him wasn't able to force him to take time off and regain perspective, so he could realize that football and whatever other pressures were weighing on him were not important at all in the grand scheme of things. We can only hope his wife & child will be OK without him, and that other players suffering from depression are made to feel it's OK to ask for help.

While any death is tragic, I too feel more sorrow for the train driver and for those he left behind, just can't imagine what drives people to such desperate/ultimate acts.
On a lighter note, watched the press conference, wasn't a good advert for the doctor was it, if I was his patient I'd be looking elsewhere.

For you & me his life had a great deal to live for, but for a depressed person they are probably looking at the world a whole lot different.
It rarely make sense.

My condolences go to out to his now widow, Teresa, and an adopted daughter of eight months, Leila.