Former Australian tennis player Jelena Dokic has revealed that she “nearly jumped off her 26th floor balcony to end her own life” in an open, close to home Instagram post. She made this disclosure through her social media handle (Instagram) on Monday June 13.
Looking as though she had been crying, Dokic wrote that on April 28 she verged on ending her own life.
“Will never forget the day. Everything is blurry. Everything is dark,” she wrote.
“No tone, no picture, nothing makes sense … just tears, sadness, depression, anxiety and pain.”
The 39-year-old tennis star additionally made sense of how she had been encountering consistent sensations of sadness and pain and that getting proficient assistance saved her life.
“The last six months have been tough. It’s been constant crying everywhere,” she added. “From hiding in the bathroom when at work to wipe away my tears so that nobody sees it to the unstoppable crying at home within my four walls has been unbearable.”
Dokic, who has worked as a broadcaster for Australian media since retiring in 2014, won six WTA Tour titles and reached a career-high position of fourth in the world rankings.
She reached the semifinals of Wimbledon in 2000 and the quarterfinals of the French Open and Australian Open in 2002 and 2009 respectively.
But fortunately, Dokic says she is recuperating.
In her Instagram post, she said she is headed straight toward recuperation.
“It’s a very difficult subject that I talk about in the book, not just my father and the whole amount of abuse that went on from the age of six, pretty much, for over 20 years,” Dokic said in an interview with CNN in 2018.
In her life account “Unbreakable,” she detailed allegations of physical, verbal, and mental abuse she says her father inflicted on her throughout her tennis career.. Yet, the New York Times detailed that he kept no less than one charge from getting actual maltreatment against his daughter when she was a teenager.
Female Athletes: This Is Why They Have A ‘Burden’
“It’s a very difficult subject that I talk about in the book, not just my father and the whole amount of abuse that went on from the age of six, pretty much, for over 20 years,” Dokic said in an interview with CNN in 2018.
“I battled depression for a very long time, almost 10 years, and I almost committed suicide at one stage.”
Dokic, who was born in Croatia before her family escaped to Serbia and afterward Australia as war broke out in the Balkans. She had shared her experience with the expectation it would bring issues to light of abuse, abusive behavior at home, in sport and furthermore beyond sport.
In her final her post, Dokic made a suggestion to other people who are also enduring to find support, empowering them not to be embarrassed.
“I am writing this because I know I am not the only one struggling. Just know that you are not alone. I am not going to say that I am doing great now but I am definitely on the road to recovery.”