After seeking help during a tough time, Dan decided that life was for living. He opened up about his own struggles to encourage others to seek support and is proud to be a shoulder to cry on among his mates.
I have had my own battles with bad mental health and addiction. On my 26th birthday, I’d been out on a three-day bender – I came home and tried to take my own life.
The next thing I remembered was waking up in hospital and seeing my mum next to me in floods of tears. That really struck me because I realised how much she cared; until that point, I’d felt worthless.
From there, I worked on getting better. I contacted Samaritans, having someone to talk to was really comforting. I felt heard. I started to feel stronger in this time and decided that life was for living. Samaritans were a huge part of this too.
Mental health wasn’t something I spoke about, especially as a man and with my rugby league friends. Then I saw Tyson Fury sharing his own struggle with mental health and I related. It inspired me to share my own story on Facebook. I felt confident to open up and share some of the struggles I’d faced. The reaction I received was immense.
I felt opening up might normalise things and encourage someone to seek support. If I could encourage just one person, then it’s worth it.
I’m now a shoulder to cry on among my mates and I couldn’t feel prouder of that. A little piece of advice that got me through on my road to recovery was “You are stronger than you seem, you are braver than you believe, and you are smarter than you think.”
