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England’s Rose reveals battle with depression
LONDON, June 7, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – England World Cup left-back Danny Rose
has been battling with depression which even his parents did not know about
until he told the British media this week.
The 27-year-old Tottenham Hotspur defender — who has told his family to
stay away from the finals in Russia later this month because of fears they
would be racially abused — had his depression exacerbated by the suicide of
an uncle and one of his brothers narrowly escaping being shot at the family
home.
“It’s no secret that I’ve been through a testing time at Tottenham this
season,” Rose told reporters at England’s pre-World Cup finals training camp.
“It led to me seeing a psychologist and I was diagnosed with depression,
which nobody knows about.
“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.”
Rose, who was not happy at Spurs medical team’s treatment of a knee injury
last year which eventually saw him undergo an operation four months after
being told it was unnecessary, said the only respite he had from his battle
with depression had been when he was with the England squad and manager
Gareth Southgate.
However, despite his reservations about the advice he was given over his
knee injury he does credit the Spurs doctor for referring him to a
psychologist in order to help cure his depression.
“My uncle killed himself in the middle of my rehab, and that triggered the
depression as well,” said Rose.
“Off the field there have been other incidents: back home in August my mum
was racially abused 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 — a
gun was fired at my house.
“England has been my salvation and I can’t thank the manager and the
medical staff enough. It was really hard, and being referred to a doctor and
psychologist by the Spurs club doctor helped me massively to cope.”
BSS/AFP/MRI/1455 hrs