Portuguese athlete Fernando Pimenta says that mental health is still a taboo

Portuguese athlete Fernando Pimenta gave an interview to Men's Health magazine where he addresses a very important topic today, mental health. He is among the best athletes in Portugal, because he always knows what he is going to train, how he is going to train and what weapons he needs to ensure success.

How to have a healthy life? The secrets are not many: a balanced diet, having pleasure in what you do, rest and mental health. Despite training a lot, the canoeist says that rest is very important: "I usually do three weeks of stoppage, because the body needs to rest and relax and the head also needs to regain motivation."

The athlete was also present at the world's largest technology conference in Lisbon, WebSummit, where he also addressed the theme of mental health: "First of all, we have to do something that makes us feel happy with. We have to do something we like and not out of obligation or because it is imposed on us. We have to work with emotion and passion, if not, we are not taking pleasure or income. In addition, it is important to enjoy the process, both on the part of the pain and suffering of training, of victories, as well as on the part of non- victories - the moments when we try to win and we can't, but when we also work and enjoy the path."

Fernando Pimenta stresses that there is still a lot of taboo in relation to mental health and that many athletes and sports enthusiasts do not seek the necessary help for fear of what society can say on the subject: "Mental health is still a taboo, because when someone says they are being followed by a psychologist, they think they are crazy, it's not well, and it's not like It is often to avoid getting to the problem that we turn to a professional to follow us and help us, so that we never reach extreme cases such as exhaustion or burnout."