As part of Mental Health Awareness Week, Joe Bryan sat down with ESPN for a frank discussion about his experiences.
Fulham fans will remember an Instagram post from the popular left-back in August 2019, when he revealed that he had been struggling during the previous season. He posted it not for sympathy, but to let people know that speaking to someone can significantly help one’s mental state.
“Like with anything, this interview, podcasts that I’ve done, that post, I thought if it can help one person, one man, one woman...Football aside, I can be earning whatever, driving whatever, wearing whatever, but I still can’t get out of bed some days, I still question whether I’m good enough to be where I am, I still question myself. If that can help someone talk to someone about the same kind of problems, then I’ve done part of my duty as a person in a position of small influence.”
The post in question featured a photograph from Fulham’s 3-1 defeat at West Ham United six months earlier.
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“I just think you can see the look in my eye,” Joe says. “I was concentrating on the game, but I remember that game being very, very tough. It was one of those games where you can't catch your breath, everything's on top of you, I had a headache, and it was a rare game in my career where I did not want to be there. It was like being in a trance, a fog over your head.”
Thankfully, a colleague noticed that Joe had not been himself recently, and took him to one side for a chat.
“I then got injured, we were bottom of the league, not playing well, everything just got on top of me and it was like a snowball effect,” he recalls. “I was lucky that a physio, Natalie at Fulham, pulled me and said, ‘Look, you’re a different person, I’ve noticed you’re less enthusiastic, you look like you’re carrying something. If you want to talk, let me know.’ At that point I opened up to her and said, ‘yeah, I don’t feel great, things are getting on top of me.’ I couldn’t put my finger on what the feeling was or why I was feeling this way, so it just throws up more questions.”
Joe is a huge advocate of talking about mental health, and hopes his experiences can help others who find themselves in similar situations.
“I think the last 18 months with the pandemic have taught us that mental health is prevalent in society, and the more accepting we are of it, and the more we normalise it, the better,” he explains. “That's the message I tell people: it’s completely normal! A lot of people won’t realise they’re struggling, and it doesn't have to be a big, ‘Oh my God, I’m anxious, I’m depressed.’ It can just be as simple as saying to a friend, ‘alright mate, I don’t feel good today and I didn't want to get out of bed.’
“So, try something new, it doesn’t have to be a big life-altering event, it can just be a conversation.
Joe Bryan
“Talk to people and, if I can give people one piece of advice, it’s even if you’re not sure, just mention how you’re feeling to someone, and the likelihood is that they’ve probably experienced the same or know someone who has. So, if this can help someone talk to someone about the same kind of feelings I had, then I hope I’ve helped.”
Joe was speaking to ESPN’s Tom Hamilton, and the full interview can be found here.
