England defender Danny Rose has opened up about battling depression that was triggered by a lengthy injury lay-off and personal tragedy in his family.
Rose was sidelined for more than eight and a half months last year with a knee complaint, during which time his uncle committed suicide among a series of personal incidents.
The 27-year-old sought medical treatment for his condition, which he has previously kept silent about, although he insists he is in a positive place ahead of this month’s World Cup.
He told several national newspapers: “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.
“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.
“Nobody knows this either, but my uncle killed himself in the middle of my rehab, and that triggered the depression as well.
“It was really hard, and being referred to a doctor and psychologist helped me massively to cope.
“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, and then someone came to the house and nearly shot my brother in the face. It was a testing time.”
Asked whether he had revealed the extent of his anguish to England manager Gareth Southgate, Rose added: “No. You are the only people who know about a lot of this stuff – I haven’t told my mum or my dad, and they are probably going to be really angry reading this, but I’ve kept it to myself until now.”
