BEN CHILWELL bravely revealed on social media he had therapy after his ‘confidence took a hit’ – and urged others to speak out about their struggles.
The Chelsea left-back, 23, opened up on his Instagram story and Twitter – where he has a combined 915,000 followers – on Thursday afternoon.
He explained how difficult it can be to show vulnerability in a footballing environment but emphasised how it helped him overcome his personal problems.
And the Blues man encouraged those who are facing troubles in life to find someone they can talk to as well.
Chilwell – who was at Leicester for 11 years before joining Chelsea for £50million this summer – wrote: “Last year I went through a period where my confidence took a hit and it affected me in my everyday life.
“I eventually spoke to someone about it and found it helped a lot.
“In football especially people don’t like to show weakness.
“But talking about difficulties or problems in your life with others is important.
“Everyone is going through something and hopefully someone has seen this tweet and feels they are able to talk to someone about something troubling them, where they felt they couldn’t before.”
Chilwell signed off the message with a love heart emoji and added on Instagram: “I think it’s important we all talk on this topic, especially with everything going on at the moment.”
The post was liked more than 17,000 times within the first hour of being shared.
Fans and followers flooded the replies with messages of support and thanking the Three Lions star for his honesty.
EVERY 90 minutes in the UK a life is lost to suicide.
It doesn’t discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society – from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers.
It’s the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes.
And men are three times more likely to take their own life than women.
Yet it’s rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now.
That is why The Sun launched the You’re Not Alone campaign.
The aim is that by sharing practical advice, raising awareness and breaking down the barriers people face when talking about their mental health, we can all do our bit to help save lives.
Let’s all vow to ask for help when we need it, and listen out for others… You’re Not Alone.
If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support:
