Possibly.... In mitigation do this scenario though, he's not somebody I don't know - I've known him since he was of primary school age - I still come across him fairly regularly. The issues that he's faced over the last couple of years are not new issues - he's just not had the comfort blanket of Leeds to protect him from the reprocussions of his actions. He might point to that as bringing on depression, I just call it having to deal with the consequences of your actions and not enjoying it.

And take him out of the equation, yes I am cynical when bad behaviour becomes public knowledge and is promptly followed by claims of depression - it's becoming a common theme. It's funny how these realisations of depression, or the other common one nowadays 'bi-polar' are only realised/diagnosed once it becomes public knowledge they've been acting like a goose!

Just my opinion, appreciate others will feel the opposite to me and be much less cynical - but that's where I stand on the matter. And like I say, unfortunately people who are genuinely suffering are done no favours in terms of the whole 'stigma' issue by those that I feel are using depression/mental illness as a way of trying to reduce the impact of any consequences linked to their bad behaviour.

I suffer from Depression and Anxiety Disorder, and I can assure everyone it, from time to time, affects your life in a massive way.

I stopped playing Rugby a few years ago due to it myself.

I respect Bails for coming out and communicating his issues, because I know how an individual hides it and puts on an act to make everyone think you're 110%, when you are far from it. You hide it more so from Employers out of fear for your job and how others view you as a person.

Over in NZ they have made massive strides to betting depression acknowledged. Sir John Kirwan fronted an advert; depression.org.nz/ and www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/ar ... d=10852127

Over in NZ they have made massive strides to betting depression acknowledged. Sir John Kirwan fronted an advert; depression.org.nz/ and www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/ar ... d=10852127

Wow. Simply wow.

It would be easy to lambast you for your comments but sadly your views are shared by many which is why mental illness still has such a stigma.

Exactly...there is still a long way to go. Many will still have to be careful before confessing their state of mind (and for many years yet to come it will remain too late for too many)

Hopefully, if a big fella like Bailey can admit to suffering depression, it might encourage others to seek help.

Spot on

Currently going through it myself to a point i very nearly didn't see 2016, on the highest dose of medication i can have and going through a CBT course.

It's very hard at times to articulate how you can be in a good place at one moment of your life to then go to hating every single second of it and wishing you wasn't here.

I've had a lot of support, quite humbling in fact and that has got me through it, I've been lucky though that i have a lot of friends that understand rather than judge.

You still get the 'snap out of it' comments as though it is a choice, if it was a choice why would i choose this pain for myself? If it was as easy as just snapping out it, i never woulf have snapped into it.

i applaud Bailey for coming out, as you do feel weak and flawed and ashamed admitting it, in his environment of machismo to, i imagine it to be harder still.

I applaud you too Wire Yed! Your thoughts and experiences are so well expressed. Good on you and all the best moving into the future - you and Bails! This is an issue that must be faced and the stigma erased. The ignorance , in the true meaning of the word, around mental health issues must be tackled just like the earth shuddering collisions that we so loved to see from Bails at his best.

After two cancer scares in the last 12 months (one still on-going but not such a worry now) I had my first ever full blown anxiety attack recently. F*** me! that was a surprise and a half. It's not in your head, it's a physical reaction to stress that you can't control (and I am very, very used to stress for several reasons). I genuinely thought I was dying. I am still having "aftershocks" which come on completely at random and scare the $h!t out of me. Depression is very similar in that in it's severe form manifests physically and is terrifying. It's the physical symptoms that most people don't even consider - it's not someone sat in a room feeling unhappy. I have a mate who I've worked with for 15 years and completely out of the blue he shut down. You would never in a million years think anything like that could happen to a guy like him and it did. He was off work for nearly three months. Thankfully he's recovered, but I now can see the parts of his personality (the drive, the commitmment to doing things right and the work ethic) that caused his issues when his job temprarily changed within the company.
More needs to be done.