There’s more of a light being shone on mental illness in football in recent times
Tottenham star Danny Rose has also come forward in an honest interview in which he talks about his battle with depression and how England saved his life.
The English defender who suffered an injury-ridden season spoke of how the England call up really helped him and how his uncle hung himself while he was still battling with injury.
“It’s no secret that I’ve been through a testing time at Tottenham this season, which led to me seeing a psychologist, and I was diagnosed with depression, which nobody knows about, and I had to get away from Tottenham,” Rose explained to the Independent
“I’m lucky that England gave me that opportunity to get away, refresh my mind and I’ll always be grateful to them.
“I was on medication for a few months – again, nobody knows about that apart from my agent – but I’m off the medication now, I’m good now and looking forward to how far we can go in Russia.”
He explained how the whole thing started
“It all stemmed from my injury in January last year, when I was advised I didn’t need an operation. I don’t know how many tablets I took to try and get fit for Tottenham, how many injections trying to get fit for Tottenham,”
“I had cortisone/PRP [platelet rich plasma] injections trying to be fit for my club, and I had to have an op four months down the line – after all that football I missed, when the team was flying and I was playing well, I was playing really well, the team were playing really well. Seeing the lads beat Arsenal comfortably, seeing them beat Man United comfortably – it was hard. I’m not saying I’ve had worse treatment than anyone else. That’s football. But it was difficult. That was the start of it.
“Nobody knows this, either, but my uncle hung himself in the middle of my rehab, and that triggered it [depression] as well. It was really hard, and being referred to a doctor and psychologist [by the Spurs doctor] helped me massively to cope.
“I’ve been through a lot, and England has been my salvation. One million per cent.”