Strasbourg’s Manssita Traore speaks out about mental health struggles

Manssita Traore has spoken about her mental health, difficult childhood and ongoing recovery in an interview with L’Equipe, saying: “I am destroying myself because I am suffering inside, I am suffering in silence and I continue to cling to emptiness.”

The Strasbourg forward posted those words on Instagram on 9 September, the day of her 23rd birthday. Asked about what she has been “going through for several years”, Traore gave a candid account of the experiences that have affected her both personally and professionally.

She said she had left home at an early age despite being very close to her family, and that the separation had worsened emotional wounds that had not healed.

“I experienced some very complicated things during my childhood,” Traore told L’Equipe. “I left home very early, even though I was very close to my family. The wounds had not healed and the separation did not make things any better.

“During the first separation, I was at INSEP, 10 minutes from home, but I cried every night. I pretended to be injured so I could return home. I also found my first selections difficult.

“That was when I started to suffer and experience depression. I had panic attacks. I was not well, but I did not tell anyone. When I went to football, I showed nothing.”

‘I am not superhuman’

Traore said she eventually reached a point where hiding her difficulties was no longer possible.

“When you force yourself to carry on while, deep down, things are really not going well, it eventually shows,” she said. “I am not superhuman. I began losing a great deal of weight, being absent, and I even fainted.

“That alerted my family. That was when I began receiving support. It is difficult, but I am gradually starting to recover.”

The former PSG player also acknowledged the effect her struggles have had on her football career. At the end of every season, she considers stopping in order to give herself time to heal.

However, she says her connection with the sport and the sacrifices she has made to reach her current position have repeatedly prevented her from walking away.

“I have made many sacrifices to get where I am,” Traore said. “The attachment I have to football is so strong that it outweighed the things that might have made me want to stop.”

Traore is currently receiving psychological support and said she remains hopeful about the future.

“I am convinced that all these experiences have not happened for nothing and that I am capable of overcoming them,” she said. “I believe something better is waiting for me.”