[Kidder]

Thanks for sharing.

Really feel for the guy. Must be hard to have the skills to compete but have your career derailed by a mental health condition.

I can empathize with his struggles. At 13 I developed a severe anxiety disorder which prevented me from eating before or during school. I had recently dropped out of organized hockey, but being a sport fiend I continued on with volleyball and competitive tennis, which also often required an empty stomach to survive.

Most school days I would consume nothing but sips of water from waking til returning home. On training days that would mean sometimes my first meal wouldn’t be until 6 or 7 pm.

Not exactly sure how I did it. Experts talk about the importance of proper nutrition for students. My grades certainly slipped toward graduation, nor was I probably achieving my athletic potential. But when the alternative was debilitating and humiliating public panic attacks (or the fear of one developing) you just make do with whatever energy your body can muster on a completely empty stomach.

Making excuses to friends about why you weren’t eating in the cafeteria at lunch, or getting teased endlessly about your skinniness, are also unfortunate byproducts that Slater references in the article.

Awareness of mental health struggles is often helpful, to others afflicted or to the ignorant who don’t understand, so it’s great that Koekkoek is willing to share, and hopefully provides a bit of relief from his private struggles.

Hope he is able to find peace in a new career (if he walks away from pro hockey) that helps him to gain control over his anxiety issues.