West Ham star Michail Antonio is praised by fans for bravely opening up about his mental health struggles and showing footballers 'are human too' - after he confessed to 'praying for an injury' to get time away from game
- Antonio, 34, is the latest Premier League star to open up on mental health issues
Fans have praised Michail Antonio for opening up about his mental health struggles as the star turned to therapy after he began to 'hate' football.
The West Ham striker, 34, who is on £85,000-a-week, revealed how he increasingly felt a strain on his mental health prompted by his divorce from ex-wife. He even confessed to 'praying for an injury' to get time away from the game.
Responding to the former Nottingham Forest players comments, one person wrote on social media: 'Mental health matters,' while another added: 'Players go through a lot in their daily life. Glad he's feeling better now.'
A third wrote: 'Therapy is good, people just see it differently. Thinking once you signup for therapy it means you're going nuts but it's not the case.'
A fourth added: 'In such a precious moment for his career this is actually sad to read about,' while a last said: 'Footballers go through a lot they are humans too.'
'I was going through my divorce and stuff, and I honestly couldn't get my head around it,' Antonio shared on the High Performance podcast.
Discussing one game in December 2022, he said: 'During the game, I was like, "I'm really not enjoying this'" I just felt quite negative. I'm a very positive person myself.
'I didn't score from December until I think it was March, April time. And I just felt run-down. And then I went away with Jamaica because I was enjoying football with Jamaica for some strange reason. But I actually prayed for an injury. I was like, '" just want to get injured, I want some time off".'
The Jamaica international added: 'I started therapy because I was really struggling. And how I grew up, it was never a thing. I thought therapy was for crazy people.
'But therapy changed my life. At first it was awkward, I'm not going to lie. You're sat in the room, someone was there and goes, "How are you?"
'And your natural response is "Fine". So, he's like, "So why are you here?" I was like, "To be honest, like, football, I'm struggling with football, I split up with my missus".'
'My life was a bit turned upside-down because obviously I'm splitting up with my missus, my wife, and also, I'm not performing on the pitch and things are just not going well for me.
'And then I'm a person where I'd never cry. And as I was talking to him, I just burst into tears. It was uncontrollable. That gave me some type of relief. And then like my chest felt like clear.'
James Harris, Director of Campaigns and Communications at Mental Health UK, said: 'Michail Antonio deserves massive respect for opening up about his mental health and his decision to start therapy, and we hope this helps remind people that they don’t have to struggle in silence.
His comments reflect how personal challenges can impact our professional lives, whether that’s on the football pitch or wherever it is we work, and how consistently high levels of stress can lead to burnout and leave us mentally drained. We wish him all the best.'
Last year, Everton star Dele Alli bravely opened up and admitted he had been molested in a harrowing interview with England legend Gary Neville.
His interview saw stars and fans from across the world rally around him, including the Prince of Wales who tweeted a personal message to thank him for opening up about his mental health, telling him it 'is not a sign of weakness'.
Alli was heralded as a generational talent during his early days at Tottenham but his career has not turned out the way many predicted.
He revealed that he checked himself into rehab to kick an addiction to sleeping tablets and confront his traumatic childhood.
Dele described to Gary Neville just how torrid his childhood with his birth family had been before he was adopted at the age of 12.
'When I was six I was molested by mum's friend... because my mum was an alcoholic,' he said in the one-to-one on with Neville on The Overlap, 'That happened at six.'
He continued: 'And then I was sent to Africa to learn discipline and then I was sent back. At seven I started smoking and then at eight I started selling drugs.
'An older person told me they wouldn't stop a kid on a bike so I'd ride around with my football and underneath I'd have drugs.
'At 11 I was hung off a bridge… by a guy from the next estate. A man. By 12 I was adopted but from then it was like I was adopted by an amazing family.'
Eric Dier opened up on his relationship with Dele Alli and admitted he wished he did more to help his former Tottenham and England team-mate.
He said: 'I’m disappointed that I didn’t do more. In many situations that I look back on I wasn’t aware of the full picture and there’s a lot of things.
'I was that annoying older person, I would always be on his case so he would hide things from me, or tell me something but give just 20% of it.
'I have a lot of regrets and there were certain times that I wish I did more.'
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