Yannick Noah Disease Confirmed
- While enjoying the happiness of his growing family, including his youngest child Keelaani, Yannick Noah recently shared a poignant revelation: he battled severe depression following his 1983 French...
- The former tennis champion, now 64, recently gathered with family, including daughter Eleejah and son Joalukas, in Paris.
- Noah's testimony will be featured in "Mental Health Event," a documentary set too air on M6 on May 6, aiming to break the stigma surrounding mental health.
Yannick Noah Opens Up about Post-Roland Garros Depression
While enjoying the happiness of his growing family, including his youngest child Keelaani, Yannick Noah recently shared a poignant revelation: he battled severe depression following his 1983 French Open victory.
The former tennis champion, now 64, recently gathered with family, including daughter Eleejah and son Joalukas, in Paris. Though, beneath the smiles, Noah carried a hidden struggle for years.
Noah’s testimony will be featured in “Mental Health Event,” a documentary set too air on M6 on May 6, aiming to break the stigma surrounding mental health. In the documentary, he recounts the darkness that consumed him after his historic win.
“I survived a deep, deep depression,” Noah says in the documentary. “I was 23 years old. I was in grate shape. My priority, since I was 12, was to win this tournament in Paris.All my friends were there, all the people I loved were there, my father jumped on the court, it was perfect. Happiness was to win this cup. And the next day, I was lost.”
struggling with Fame and Success
Noah described feeling adrift despite achieving his lifelong dream. “I didn’t know what was going on. All the people around me thought I was living my best life, but I wanted to give a damn… I wanted to leave,” he confessed.
He further revealed the depth of his despair: “At this time, I was walking alone at night in the street in Paris, I was waiting for there to be no one, I looked at the Seine and I said to myself: ‘I throw myself, I can no longer!'”
Noah struggled to discuss his depression, which he described as having “fell on it like that.” He expressed a reluctance to dwell on the subject, stating, “I’m always afraid of talking too much, it’s always too long.”
by sharing his experience, Noah hopes to encourage open conversations about depression, a condition that affects an estimated three million people in France, according to Public Health France. Symptoms can include loss of interest, persistent fatigue, and profound sadness.