Alex Iwobi, Nigerian and Everton midfielder, has urged black men to look after their mental health.
Iwobi gave the advice at an exhibition in London to raise awareness around mental health as quoted by ITV.
Mental health has become an increasingly important subject within the game and the 26-year-old insists seeking advice and accepting help is vital.
According to Iwobi, he was able to get over his struggles by speaking to a psychiatrist and teammates.
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He said, “Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable. I feel like it is something within men, especially Black men, as society is positioned not do that and if you do you are weak. Be OK being vulnerable, there is nothing wrong with it.
“It is only going through life and there is so much trauma in young Black men [you learn] that if you only speak about it, you’d be able to navigate it.
“There is nothing wrong with telling people ‘I’m not all right in the world. I’m just not in the right space’.
“Playing football is a big one because you are not dealing with the issue at hand, it is still there and you escape it but it is still with you.
“It is only going through life and there is so much trauma in young Black men [you learn] that if you only speak about, it you’d be able to navigate it.
“There is nothing wrong with telling people ‘I’m not all right in the world’.
“I’m just not in the right space’. Playing football is a big one because you are not dealing with the issue at hand, it is still there and you escape it but it is still with you.”
