Clarke Carlisle opens up on alcoholism struggle and suicide attempts | OneFootball

Clarke Carlisle says he became suicidal during a long struggle with alcoholism, reflecting on two attempts on his life over 13 years. The 46-year-old played for Queens Park Rangers, Leeds United and Burnley across a 17-year career, later chairing the Professional Footballers’ Association.

"If I played well then I was a good human and I was allowed to smile, and I could go home and be nice to my family. If I played poorly, I was a bad human," he told Abbeycare’s Listen Up podcast.

In 2001 he suffered a knee injury. After retiring in 2013, he said he endured "the longest and deepest depressive episode of my life".

"I sat on a futon and drank myself into oblivion. I placed that order probably six days a week for a five-week period."

In 2014 he made another attempt on his life and spent six weeks in hospital after being hit by a lorry, suffering a shattered knee and internal bleeding.

He said he had lived with the notion that "without football I was no-one", and began to regain control after cognitive analytic therapy at Blackburn Psychiatric Hospital.

"There are literally thousands of people who are qualified and trained to be invested in your wellness. What they are going to do is hear you, and guide you on the pathway to your potential solution. Go there first."

He now works as a business development executive at Betknowmore, a charity that supports gambling addicts.

Source: yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk