Kevin McNaughton has bravely opened up on his battle with depression after a series of worrying tweets resulted in him getting the help he needed.
Former Aberdeen star McNaughton admits his life hit a downward trajectory after he retired from professional football. The ex-Scotland international found it hard to cope with the major change in lifestyle, which affected his personal relationships and ultimately left him isolated and struggling to see a future for himself.
But McNaughton is now in a much better place and is glad he sent the Tweets as it made people realise he needed help. He told Sky Sports: "I just got myself in a bit of a mess really, which stemmed from not really being prepared for life after football. My life had slowly sort of disintegrated after I stopped playing. My relationship sort of fell to pieces and then off the back of that, I probably isolated myself a bit as well when I should have really been speaking to other people and getting help. Looking back, that was obviously a mistake. It was a difficult time."
The tweets the long-serving Cardiff City stalwart sent read: “Let my kids know I’ll hover above, I’ll always love them they’re too good for me.” He added: “Looking back, I can’t actually remember sending them. I’d taken quite a lot of the medication I was on and with alcohol, I was a mess really.
“I was lucky enough that I did probably send them out. It was maybe a cry for help. I had got to that sort of stage of rock bottom, I think. The police found us with my medication and alcohol. They could see I was in a state really, to be honest with you. That probably helped us through the first few weeks of trying to get myself back on the right track. I probably kept my head in the sand for a couple of days really and once I had surfaced and seen all the messages, it was pretty incredible really.
“Social media can get a bit of a bad rap sometimes but in that case, it has shown it in a good light. Obviously that dies down as well and you’ve got to sort of start knuckling down and getting back into normal life which was hard.
“Just having my kids around us as much as I could around that period helped and probably my life then to where it is now has changed a lot. I got engaged, just a few months back so I’ve got that to look forward now. I’ve got a future that didn’t seem possible back then.
“I think one thing it has sort of taught me, you’ve got to try and get through these difficult periods because there is still a lot to live for and certainly in my case, I have had some of my best days since then.”
PFA Scotland have a free, widely used, and highly confidential mental health support service in place for players that has been running since 2016, with more information available at www.pfascotland.co.uk/mental-health/
If you are affected by these issues or want to talk, please contact the Samaritans on the free helpline 116 123, or visit the website www.samaritans.org
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