Depression can tragically gounnoticed in many professions, particularly sport.
Germany suffered two of the mostpublic stories of mental illness in the beautiful game, aftergoalkeeper Robert Enke committed suicide at the age of 32 in 2009, and two years laterformer referee Babak Rafati failed in anattempt on his own life, which landed him in hospital.
According to Swiss newspaper Blick,the Manchester United star Bastian Schweinsteiger, then of Bayern Munich, was one to reachout to Rafati during a tough time in his life and career.
The 46 year old said:"I woke in a hospital bed. It was a terrible moment, and my first thought was that I would plan things next time I tried to kill myself and do the job properly.
"I had been bullied for 18 months beforehand. People wanted to get rid of me for telling the truth. Since my suicide attempt no-one from the German FA has been in touch, but all my fellow refs got in contact.
"And Bastian Schweinsteiger wrote me a letter that moved me greatly. There was no ulterior motive on his part, as he knew that I would no longer be able to referee after this incident.
"He wrote: 'Mr Rafati, people often make mistakes in life, but we simply have to make comebacks even more often. I wish you all the very best.'
"It was an incredibly big human gesture on his part. Depression is still a huge taboo in football. Since that time I have been working as a mind coach with three Bundesliga players.
"I can rule out wanting to kill myself again. I now know that I was crazy, and life is too beautiful to destroy oneself."
Schweinsteiger's words clearlyhad a great effect on the former Bundesliga referee, whohas written a book about struggling with depression during his refereeing career.