England and Tottenham left-back Danny Rose has revealed he was diagnosed with depression, which was triggered by injury and then the suicide of his uncle.
The 27-year-old, who will play a part in England’s final World Cup warm-up clash against Costa Rica tonight, gave an “astonishingly frank interview”, the Daily Mirror reports, when lifting the lid on his battle with depression.
Rose was prescribed antidepressants after his uncle committed suicide, his mother was racially abused and his brother was targeted in a gun attack. Spells on the sidelines injured for Tottenham and the prospect of missing out on the World Cup were also major triggers.
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He said: “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 to get fit for Tottenham, how many injections I had to try.
“I had cortisone-PRP [platelet rich plasma] injections to try to get fit for my club, and four months down the line - after all the football I missed, when the team was flying and I was playing really well - it was difficult. Seeing the lads beat Arsenal and Manchester United comfortably - it was hard. I’m not saying I’ve had worse treatment than anyone else, but that was the start of it.”
‘England has been my salvation’
Rose also revealed that he never told his family about his mental health issues, he only told his agent. But he is no longer taking any medication and is looking forward to the World Cup in Russia.
“I was on medication for a few months - nobody knows about that apart from my agent - but I’m off it now, it’s all good, and I’m looking forward to seeing how far we can go in Russia,” he said.
“Being referred to a doctor and psychologist by my club doctor helped me massively to cope. I’ve been through a lot, and England has been my salvation. One million per cent. But off the field, there have been other incidents.
“In August, my mum was racially abused back home in Doncaster – she was very angry and upset about it. Then someone came to the house and nearly shot my brother in the face.
“Nobody knows this either, but my uncle hung himself in the middle of my rehab and that triggered it [depression] as well.”
The Daily Telegraph’s Sam Wallace says Rose’s admission of depression “is a game-changer in English football”. Wallace writes: “Rose’s bravery and honesty will signal to a wider audience, in football and beyond, that there is nothing wrong with being open about one’s emotions and state of mind.
“There would be no thought given to a player discussing his recovery from injury - and Rose had a serious one of those with his knee problem - so why not a similar discussion about a player’s state of mind?”
Rose: I’m just numb to racism
Earlier this week Rose also revealed that he has told his family not to travel to the World Cup because of fears over racism.
He was a victim of racist chants playing for England Under-21s against Serbia in 2012, and although he revealed the squad has discussed what to do if they’re on the receiving end of abuse in Russia, Rose says their options are limited.
“If I’m racially abused out there, nothing is going to change,” he told the London Evening Standard. “It shouldn’t be like that but it is. I’m just numb to it.”
Asked if he would consider walking off, Rose replied: “Are we trying to play football or are we trying to change the world? Whatever we do here isn’t going to change what is happening all around the world.
“I don’t want to sound like a cry baby. There are millions of people who have it much worse than I’ve had it.”
Rose has his manager’s unequivocal support but Gareth Southgate is enough of a realist to know that walking off in the event of abuse would be counter-productive.
“I sympathise 100%,” said Southgate. “We have this situation because of a lack of education, generally speaking. We are decades into having a multi-racial society, and we are far from perfect. And other nations are sadly still not at the same stage that we are.
“In an idealistic world people would say to walk off the pitch but that means we would be thrown out of the tournament which many people would agree with. I don’t think the players want that.”
But Southgate ended on an upbeat note, saying: “The biggest impact we can have is as one of the most diverse squads to have left England and the way that they all get on, and hopefully that message will come through.”
