Espanyol midfielder Sergi Darder has urged footballers struggling with their mental health to open up to family and teammates to help get the help they need.
The 28-year-old insisted that it was important for footballers to be honest with themselves and address their struggles to help themselves feel better. It came in the aftermath of Darder giving a candid interview to ESPN earlier this year where the midfielder explained he "was not in a good place" mentally despite being captain of the Catalan club.
The Spaniard did not believe he was depressed but had claimed that the pressures of his career were impacting him and led to a downturn in his mental health which prompted him to explain the situation to those close to him, both personally and professionally.
Darder is now closing in on a decade at the top level having started his senior career at Malaga before spending three years in Ligue 1 with Lyon. The former Spain Under-21 international returned to La Liga in 2018 to join Espanyol, where he has been a mainstay of the midfield ever since.
He has now gone into more detail on how he approached his situation; explaining to close friends and family but also to the club himself. Darder praised Espanyol for their handling of his admission and had special praise for goalkeeper Diego Lopez.
The central midfielder explained that Lopez, whose career at the top level has spanned two decades and included multiple stints at Real Madrid and Milan, played a key role in improving Darder’s outlook and was a component of the Espanyol dressing room that he could confide in.
“I had to re-evaluate the way I felt, because I did not feel that great, but fortunately there were players who were able to help me a lot,” Darder explained when recalling that period. “Diego was one of the players in the squad who really helped me. Sometimes it is a question of being honest with yourself and if you do not feel like you are able to perform at the level the club deserves, you need to address things.”
Darder continued: “I did not feel that I was able to help the team sufficiently at that time but with help not only from specialists – in this case the psychologists who provided me with guidelines about how I could change my mindset – but also from relatives, friends, my wife, children and my teammates – particularly Diego. He helped me with so many things given his experience across so many clubs. It is always a good idea to listen to what these people have to say.”
The midfielder added: “The two main people who helped me were Diego and the coach, they helped me to get through this and everyone can help in different ways. Diego was a big help on a personal level and the coach more on a professional level. This meant I was able to improve my performances. It is important to listen to other people with other experiences is very important, even if you do not know them.”
