In the competitive shooter Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the Danish team Astralis is currently the top team. The 24-year-old player Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander is now on sick leave for 3 months. He suffers from symptoms of stress and burnout. This does not seem to be an isolated case.
This is the player: Lukas “Gla1ve” Rossander is a rifler for Team Astralis. This is currently the strongest CS:GO team in the world. They became world champions at the StarLadder Berlin Major 2019.
In a ranking that presents the best CS:GO players in the world every year, Rossander ranked 8th in 2018. He has been playing Counter-Strike for a long time and has accumulated a prize money of 1.6 million US dollars. This places the Dane 4th worldwide (via esportearnings).
CS:GO is one of the eSports titles where you can earn good money if you belong to the world elite. But that comes at a price.
This is what the player says: Rossander says he has been feeling for a long time that he suffers from symptoms of stress and burnout. The team and his teammates have done many things to help him overcome these issues. But they persisted.
Now he and his doctor have decided that he needs a break. He then submitted his sick leave to Astralis.
He will now use his time for 3 months to fully recover and then return to the team.
Rossander says this was the most difficult decision of his life. It is hard to put health first, but he believes it is necessary now.
Hotline for CS:GO professionals with problems comes
Is this an isolated case? Apparently not. Shortly after Rossander’s announcement, the player association of CS:GO, the CSPPA, spoke out (via twitter).
They say they are being contacted by more and more CS:GO players who suffer from problems such as anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, or substance abuse.
The organization now wants to continue working to create a healthier environment in eSports so that the sport can continue to function.
Therefore, the association wants to collaborate with two universities to conduct a study among CS:GO players. Additionally, they want to set up a hotline for professionals to report their problems.
The association also wants to help players through meetings to manage stress and anxiety disorders.
How intense a CS:GO player’s life on tour can be was felt by one of the best players, Oleksandr “simple” Kostyliev.
He was mentally so exhausted after an extensive tournament phase with his team, which he was constantly traveling with, that even at home, when he played CS:GO on Twitch, he spoke to teammates who were not there.
