Do aspiring tour pros ever suffer from mild to severe depression?

[IThinkSo]

In your opinion, do people who are trying to make it on the PGA Tour ever struggle with bouts of depression?

[Andrew M]

I think people trying to make it at a high/top level of anything they're doing no doubt struggle with bouts of depression and doubt.

[tiderider]

every human ever born struggles with 'bouts of depression' ...

[caniac6]

They are just like everyone else, and have the same problems we all have.

[Jagpilotohio]

Certainly.

Depression really doesn’t care too much what you do for a living. Just Look at Kate Spade or Anthony Bourdain.

[bladehunter]

The whole world is depressed. It’s a race to see who copes best.

[bscinstnct]

If they NY football fans, definitely yes

[Sean2]

Depression is an equal opportunity illness. It affects people from all walks of life, and I would imagine this includes professional golfers.

[golfandfishing]

Of course some do, why wouldn’t some have depression? Steven Bowditch pretty candid about his. Some percentage of people will have depression, playing golf for prize money isn’t medicine.

[KYMAR]

What about diabetes? Do aspiring tour pros ever get diabetes?

[IThinkSo]

Perhaps I should have worded the question differently. Do you think some aspiring tour players suffer from depression as a direct result of getting a tour card being so difficult?

[straightshot7]

Yes. Unless they receive a sponsor's exemption.

[Vindog]

Probably a few, sure.

[15th Club]

Bert Yancey. His bipolar disorder would have crippled him and taken him out of professional golf altogether, without medication.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Yancey

 

Bert actually built clay models of the greens at ANGC in his obsession to win there.

[MattyO1984]

The World Health Organisation believes that 350 million people worldwide suffer from depression, so yeah I am sure that there are people trying to qualify for the tour and people actually on the tour that do suffer from depression.

[BNGL]

As others have said, anyone can suffer from depression, I do not know if aspiring professionals are more susceptible to depression or not. I do know that a lot of guys do get extremely lonely. It can be a glorious life, doing something of no consequence for a lot of money, but it takes a ton of work to get to that level. I myself struggled with that, I played in a lot of obscure places, slept in my car for a Monday, broken a really great relationship, passed on a couple great jobs, missed birthdays and other events, because I was giving everything to the game of golf. I was lucky, because I had degrees and extremely good backing that allowed me to just focus on playing. Today I think it might even be a little bit harder, not just from a talent level but from a logistics level as well. PGA LatinAmerica is huge for the younger guys, but its a foreign country with a different language and different rules that 22 year olds might not be totally prepared for, competing for peanuts does not help either, but you aint supposed to be a career latin guy anyways. At least canada is like the states. For me I went to Asia with a buddy from school, I did a lot better than he did, but I understood the culture from having lived in Japan (and visited Korea, Thailand, Philippines etc) for close to 5 years. He would not have made it a month, if we had not been living together playing and practicing.

[CELTIC]

There's a difference between being clinically depressed and being down about your current situation.

[IThinkSo]

As others have said, anyone can suffer from depression, I do not know if aspiring professionals are more susceptible to depression or not. I do know that a lot of guys do get extremely lonely. It can be a glorious life, doing something of no consequence for a lot of money, but it takes a ton of work to get to that level. I myself struggled with that, I played in a lot of obscure places, slept in my car for a Monday, broken a really great relationship, passed on a couple great jobs, missed birthdays and other events, because I was giving everything to the game of golf. I was lucky, because I had degrees and extremely good backing that allowed me to just focus on playing. Today I think it might even be a little bit harder, not just from a talent level but from a logistics level as well. PGA LatinAmerica is huge for the younger guys, but its a foreign country with a different language and different rules that 22 year olds might not be totally prepared for, competing for peanuts does not help either, but you aint supposed to be a career latin guy anyways. At least canada is like the states. For me I went to Asia with a buddy from school, I did a lot better than he did, but I understood the culture from having lived in Japan (and visited Korea, Thailand, Philippines etc) for close to 5 years. He would not have made it a month, if we had not been living together playing and practicing.

 

Dude... Thanks for this answer!! I too have been to The Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, and Mexico, not to play but to get a taste of the culture if I were to play for a living overseas as opposed to the U.S. I'm not sure if I would want to live in any Asian country full-time for an entire year, but with that said I haven't been to China, Japan or Korea yet, so who knows. How is the talent in Latin American talent compared to the U.S.? Is it night and day? If you can compete at the highest level in Latin America, can you compete anywhere? Venues, crowds, other players etc.... Same question for competing in Asia, thanks again!

[Llortamaisey]

David Feherty has talked about his battle his entire career, especially when he was still playing professionally.

[BNGL]

As others have said, anyone can suffer from depression, I do not know if aspiring professionals are more susceptible to depression or not. I do know that a lot of guys do get extremely lonely. It can be a glorious life, doing something of no consequence for a lot of money, but it takes a ton of work to get to that level. I myself struggled with that, I played in a lot of obscure places, slept in my car for a Monday, broken a really great relationship, passed on a couple great jobs, missed birthdays and other events, because I was giving everything to the game of golf. I was lucky, because I had degrees and extremely good backing that allowed me to just focus on playing. Today I think it might even be a little bit harder, not just from a talent level but from a logistics level as well. PGA LatinAmerica is huge for the younger guys, but its a foreign country with a different language and different rules that 22 year olds might not be totally prepared for, competing for peanuts does not help either, but you aint supposed to be a career latin guy anyways. At least canada is like the states. For me I went to Asia with a buddy from school, I did a lot better than he did, but I understood the culture from having lived in Japan (and visited Korea, Thailand, Philippines etc) for close to 5 years. He would not have made it a month, if we had not been living together playing and practicing.

 

Dude... Thanks for this answer!! I too have been to The Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, and Mexico, not to play but to get a taste of the culture if I were to play for a living overseas as opposed to the U.S. I'm not sure if I would want to live in any Asian country full-time for an entire year, but with that said I haven't been to China, Japan or Korea yet, so who knows. How is the talent in Latin American talent compared to the U.S.? Is it night and day? If you can compete at the highest level in Latin America, can you compete anywhere? Venues, crowds, other players etc.... Same question for competing in Asia, thanks again!

 

 

Asia however is definitely a step above the LatinAmerica, I would say its between LA/Canada and the Web.com. The Australian Open and PGA are almost PGA Events, the Dunlop Phoenix is a tremendous event that some of the best players in the world typically play in. Some of the courses are absolutely phenomenal. We messed around the AustralAsia as well, you get the chance to play phenomenal courses, and when people learn that you are american professional golfers, you're taken care of (Asians absolutely love golf). Why would I say it is a step up? Because you get the occasional PGA Tour players come to play events, Rickie won in Korea, Brooks played the Dunlop Phoenix so did Tiger in the day, Lee Westwood typically comes to Malaysia I think (granted that is mostly because of appearance fees, but you will never ever see any of those names slumming it South America). The travel is a breeze, and a majority of people we met spoke english (I can speak Japanese as well and understand Konji a little bit). Australia is almost like the United States. One advantage the LA has is I think it is mostly americans, younger american players as well, so if you're college age you'd have lots of people that can relate to exactly what you're doing which makes it easier. I would say that LA is a step above high level college golf.

[IThinkSo]

As others have said, anyone can suffer from depression, I do not know if aspiring professionals are more susceptible to depression or not. I do know that a lot of guys do get extremely lonely. It can be a glorious life, doing something of no consequence for a lot of money, but it takes a ton of work to get to that level. I myself struggled with that, I played in a lot of obscure places, slept in my car for a Monday, broken a really great relationship, passed on a couple great jobs, missed birthdays and other events, because I was giving everything to the game of golf. I was lucky, because I had degrees and extremely good backing that allowed me to just focus on playing. Today I think it might even be a little bit harder, not just from a talent level but from a logistics level as well. PGA LatinAmerica is huge for the younger guys, but its a foreign country with a different language and different rules that 22 year olds might not be totally prepared for, competing for peanuts does not help either, but you aint supposed to be a career latin guy anyways. At least canada is like the states. For me I went to Asia with a buddy from school, I did a lot better than he did, but I understood the culture from having lived in Japan (and visited Korea, Thailand, Philippines etc) for close to 5 years. He would not have made it a month, if we had not been living together playing and practicing.

 

Dude... Thanks for this answer!! I too have been to The Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, and Mexico, not to play but to get a taste of the culture if I were to play for a living overseas as opposed to the U.S. I'm not sure if I would want to live in any Asian country full-time for an entire year, but with that said I haven't been to China, Japan or Korea yet, so who knows. How is the talent in Latin American talent compared to the U.S.? Is it night and day? If you can compete at the highest level in Latin America, can you compete anywhere? Venues, crowds, other players etc.... Same question for competing in Asia, thanks again!

 

 

Asia however is definitely a step above the LatinAmerica, I would say its between LA/Canada and the Web.com. The Australian Open and PGA are almost PGA Events, the Dunlop Phoenix is a tremendous event that some of the best players in the world typically play in. Some of the courses are absolutely phenomenal. We messed around the AustralAsia as well, you get the chance to play phenomenal courses, and when people learn that you are american professional golfers, you're taken care of (Asians absolutely love golf). Why would I say it is a step up? Because you get the occasional PGA Tour players come to play events, Rickie won in Korea, Brooks played the Dunlop Phoenix so did Tiger in the day, Lee Westwood typically comes to Malaysia I think (granted that is mostly because of appearance fees, but you will never ever see any of those names slumming it South America). The travel is a breeze, and a majority of people we met spoke english (I can speak Japanese as well and understand Konji a little bit). Australia is almost like the United States. One advantage the LA has is I think it is mostly americans, younger american players as well, so if you're college age you'd have lots of people that can relate to exactly what you're doing which makes it easier. I would say that LA is a step above high level college golf.

 

Thanks again. I have to say I'm curious about visiting other parts of Asia, namely North and East Asia and even more specifically Japan and Korea :). I also wouldn't mind visiting India. Another advantage LA has is that it's close... Getting to Asia was a beast (13+ hours on plane). LA is a hop, skip and a jump away.

[iBanesto]

Even successful PGA Tour pros suffer from depression.

 

An example would be Steven Bowditch.

 

Depression does not discriminate.

[PowderedToastMan]

Depression can be genetic, and it can also happen because of how someone interprets and appraises events that happen. Yes, an aspiring tour pro can fall into a clinical depression from not reaching his goals and playing poorly. A tour pro could also fall into a depression after winning a PGA Tour event. They might think “I’ve worked my whole life for this; is this it?” then spiral from there. This is an example of why no one is immune, but at the same time, depression is totally treatable and there are tons of sources for help, not just medication.

 

Key is to respond to those cognitive distortions appropriately and not let “the bad thoughts” take over. This is disastrous for athletes in particular. It’s bad for all, but athletes who think they are worthless and hopeless generally don’t succeed; regular people succeed everyday at their jobs thinking those things.

[puttfordoux]

Many times depression is masked with substance abuse, which is a more socially acceptable way of coping without getting treatment.

[KBong]

Christina Kim has admitted depression.

[WidespreadPanic]

The whole world is depressed. It’s a race to see who copes best.

This made me laugh. Is that weird?

 

I wonder if aspiring tour pros go to the dentist.

[Sean2]

There's a difference between being clinically depressed and being down about your current situation.

 

A huge difference. People casually say I'm depressed, but there is a vast difference from being down, as you say, and being clinically depressed.

[Sean2]

Many times depression is masked with substance abuse, which is a more socially acceptable way of coping without getting treatment.

 

For many, the substance abuse, and/or alcohol, is a way to self-medicate. For example, cocaine increases levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which has been described as a "feel-good" hormone. Nicotine has a similar effect, i.e., increasing dopamine, which is why many people who suffer from depression smoke. There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that those who suffer from depression have a dopamine deficiency.

 

The insidious things about these kinds of disorders is that on the outside people look fine and as such are expected to behave/perform accordingly. One would never ask a person with a broken arm to go out and play basketball, yet those suffering from depression, bi-polar, etc., are sometimes expected to do just that. Just because the "cast" can't be seen doesn't mean there isn't pain and suffering going on within the individual.

[bladehunter]

There's a difference between being clinically depressed and being down about your current situation.

 

IN today’s medical world the only difference is scheduling the office visit and getting the diagnoses.

[bladehunter]

The whole world is depressed. It’s a race to see who copes best.

This made me laugh. Is that weird?

 

I wonder if aspiring tour pros go to the dentist.

 

I laugh at it too. But I’m also dead serious. The only folks I’ve ever met who say they aren’t on some level are those who make 7 figure Salaries from home. As in they don’t have a day to day duty. Rare. Yes. And as we know plenty of those are depressed too. But I belive that’s another thing entirely. To have freedom and not be able to be happy with it is something else entirely. The ones who have the means and realize it , Those are the “ free” folks. The rest of us are always slaves to one thing or another. No way around it unless you live in a cave. And not even then. Then you’re tied to a water source , and food source. Never free. Free to pickup and go do anything. A lot like living in a terrarium . You can see the rest of the world. But you can’t touch it.