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Shamrock says depression lurks for aging athletes, points to need for validation outside sport

Ken Shamrock bristles when people immediately point to steroids or head trauma when an athlete falls ill or dies.

"If you look at businesses or divorces, people kill themselves because of depression," he told MMAjunkie.com Radio (MMAjunkie.com Radio | MMAjunkie.com). "Because they've done something in their life for so long, some people don't know how to deal with that.

"It can't just be head trauma, man, because it happens in places where they don't get head trauma."

The recent suicide of NFL icon Junior Seau restarted a long-running discussion on the link between concussions and brain disease. Earlier this year, the case of Gary Goodridge, who was diagnosed with early-onset CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), prompted questions of whether the problem was headed to MMA.

Shamrock (28-15-2), a UFC Hall of Famer, isn't disputing there's a problem when it comes to head trauma in sports. But he sees a different illness when he looks at many aging athletes, not to mention the general population.

"I don't care who you are – when you've been doing something for 15, 20, 30 years – you get up every morning and you knew what you were going to do, and then it stops, look at what happens when people retire," he said. "They die. They get fat, out of shape (with) high blood pressure. That's all depression."

Shamrock has spent a lot of time learning to adapt to life outside the cage.

"It is an adjustment," he said. "To me, it's very important to have family around you to help lift you up (and) help keep you going in the right direction."

Shamrock says depression lurks for aging athletes, points to need for validation outside sport | MMAjunkie.com