Toto Wolff is one of the most powerful men in Formula 1 currently leading Mercedes, but the Austrian revealed problems with depression and highlighted the importance of sports personalities opening up about the subject.
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The executive recently participated in the High Performance podcast, opening up more about his mental health. During the role, he commented that he constantly thought about the worst possible scenario, that he had ‘looked into the abyss’ several times.
“I don’t want to stop thinking that tomorrow could be very bad. That doesn’t mean I’m an unhappy person all the time, but it keeps my skepticism intact. Talking to someone was more a matter of overcoming past traumas, of overcoming emotions that I couldn’t analyze properly. I suffered, as Lewis [Hamilton] said, I suffered from periods of depression from the age of 18 onwards, and I couldn’t exactly define what it was, why I felt so dark,” he said.
“And when it got very strong, to the point where I couldn’t handle it alone anymore, I started talking to a psychiatrist and psychologist; that really helped me analyze why I felt that way and use the tools that were given to me to take advantage of these moments of reflection and introspection, without prolonging the suffering,” he explained.
Asked how he felt during those difficult moments, he said “the feeling is of not being able to sleep properly; you wake up with a kind of darkness, it’s very hard to describe this, actually, but it’s as if there was no hope for your future.”
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“I think there may be someone watching me and thinking: ‘He doesn’t have the limitation that I have.’ But I realized that having this sensitivity is a superpower. It can take you to rock bottom by making you vulnerable, but it also gives you the superpower to read the environment easily, to understand the personality of others and how that affects interaction, to pick up ‘vibes’ much more sharply and to lead an organization, fundamentally, because you care about the individual,” he continued..
Therefore, Wolff highlighted the importance of big names in Formula 1 like Hamilton, Lando Norris and George Russell addressing the topic. “Even if you can’t see a light at the end of the tunnel because the situation is very bad, all of this always comes to an end. There were times when I didn’t believe it would end.”
“I had the support of friends and family; Susie [Wolff] was amazing and kept everything running when I was not able to do so. Everything passes. It is a phase of life that can last days, weeks, months or maybe even more than a year. You need to be open to taking care of yourself and talking to someone — seeking professional help, and not just going to the bar to have five beers with a friend who has no idea what is going on. If you talk to someone, this will pass,” he concluded.
