Bellerín was inspired by Danny Rose’s revelations about his mental health struggles
Premier League footballers live privileged lives. They’re extremely well paid for doing a job they love, which allows them to live a life of luxury that millions of people would kill for. But they are also people. People who suffer from the same anxieties as you or I, just with less financial insecurity.
It’s a team sport, but football can be a only field to work in for some, especially during the recovery process from a serious injury.
In June this year, Danny Rose opened up about the episode of depression he had endured over the course of a very challenging year. A family tragedy on top of a knee injury and the ensuing absence from the pitch compounded Rose’s misery, sending him into a depressive episode that he decided to speak about just before the World Cup, hoping that it would encourage more footballers to speak honestly about such issues.
And it appears to have worked. When speaking to Arsenal’s in house media team, Hector Bellerín recently applauded Rose’s honesty, saying he hopes that it will help to break the stigma that still surrounds the issue.
“There’s all sorts of issues. I feel like the football industry is an industry where we have to be really quiet and play. I think the code around it is that footballers can’t really do anything else other than kick a ball,” he said.
“This is kind of the stereotype, so when there’s a footballer who’s stepping out of the box he’s always seen as someone that is not focused enough on football because he’s doing this, he’s doing that. As I always say, we have so much time and we’re humans so we have issues and worries. We should push these things.
“I think in America they’re more advanced in terms of these things. A lot of players have come out talking about mental health for example. This has always been something that has been very taboo to talk about, especially for men.
“After that, I know that Danny Rose had to talk about it. All these issues which, back in the day there was a stigma for men to talk about it or there was a stigma as a group of people, as footballer to talk about these things, it’s important that we take these chains off and start talking about it moving forward with an open mind.”
Click here to read Bellerín’s full Q&A.
