Leicester Tigers star Greg Bateman has been praised for opening up about his battle with depression.
He wrote on Instagram: “Today is the last day of my medication I’ve been taking for 6 months.
“I’ve not said anything about this ‘out there’ before but really hope this helps just one person if they feel like they’re struggling.
“For the last 18-24 months, after a series of fairly shit life events, I’d been wrestling with my mental health, anxiety and particularly around struggling to sleep and pretty dark moods (depression) – amidst some fairly average other goings on. So, in Jan 19, I decided I needed to get some help to level me out.
“I tried talk therapy, copious amounts of alcohol and probably too many opioid based drugs to be healthy. So, pretty much at a loss I needed something to get me to sleep so I could start tackling things a bit more naturally. I probably didn’t realise at that time what I was actually doing by taking medication was ‘taking control’ of what felt like a pretty uncontrollable situation.
“I felt I needed to do something so I could put the bullshit to bed forever and try and perform and live my life with the intent and energy I wanted to. Through time I’ve learned this isn’t like physical ailments where you just get better straight away, you’re effectively learning self-awareness.
“For me I needed a mix of talk therapy and medication to start levelling me out. I actually found I’ve had these issues or felt like this for a long time.
At my worst, I found myself finding tasks needing to use up my anxious energy – like painting my garden fence at 04:00 am and planning, reading books, listening to podcasts, writing lists, etc.
“Then, take more sleepers, another drink or anything so I wasn’t staring at my bedroom ceiling in the dark, half asleep from whatever sleeping aid I’d tried to get myself off.
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” To be honest, the first two weeks on the meds was horrific. I was sleeping well but had pressure in my head and migraines, my ears would ring constantly and sharp sounds would physically hurt – which is not ideal when you’re trying to train and play rugby.
“Today is the last day of a six month block and whilst on holiday with my partner I made a few observations which, if by sharing, can helps one person then my struggle has been worthwhile.”
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