dev1ce speaks about his burnout and depression

Nikolai “dev1ce” Reedtz has recently delighted his fans by returning to his former organization Astralis. Following his transfer from Ninjas in Pyjams, he has, for the first time, commented on his year-long CS:GO break. The star Danish AWPer had been on sick leave since last December because he was not doing well mentally.

Dev1ce’s illness appears to be related to his professional career. The constant pressure from competition got to him, so he and took a long break and worked on his issues with a therapist.

Anxiety and depression forced dev1ce to take a break

In an interview for Dexterto, dev1ce opened up about his illness, saying:

“The process leading up to my sick leave was very tough on me. I had had multiple signals of it becoming worse, but I kind of neglected things and kept going. I started having small panic attacks/anxiety and I had to tap out, figure out what was going on and accept that I was not fit to play.”

The Danish player also revealed he’s been working with a therapist since January to improve himself and learn the skills he needs in order to become the best version of himself and get competitive again. According to his words, he now feels ready to compete again, but the right thing to do is to “ease into things at a slower pace to not end up in a similar situation.”

The main mental health issues for dev1ce were depression and insomnia. In an interview with TV 2 Sport, he noted that the worst part for him was that he didn’t know whether the mental health issues will return and if he’ll get back to his best.

“The fact is that stress can lead to both anxiety and depression, and I had some problems with anxiety at one point. I didn’t really sleep and it was just hell. For me it was really about understanding it.”

“It’s a lie if you think that it cannot happen again. But I have a handle on how to handle various symptoms, and I’m not worried about it at all.”

New strength

During his CS:GO break, dev1ce was trying to stay on top of the meta and kept playing the game to keep himself focused on the trajectory back on the server.

“I know that the expectations for me are super high, but I really believe in my ability to still be at an elite level. It might take a little while for me to be fully ready at my peak, but I spent a lot of time during the break focusing on CS and improving stuff that is needed to compete at the highest level, both mentally and physically.”

Esports burnout

Unfortunately, burnout, anxiety, depression, and general overload are not uncommon in esports. Apart from dev1ce, other Astralis players have too admitted to struggling with mental health issues during the coronavirus pandemic. Namely, Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander and Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth both previously took a break due to burnout, stress, and the tiring competitive routine. It goes without saying that esports organizations should be invested in providing players with a proper support structure so that they can keep up with the pressure.

As for now, dev1ce is finally back, and hopefully, things will improve for him as well as for his team.

Header: Astralis