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.”
