Barcelona’s Araújo opens up on mental health for first time | OneFootball

The Uruguayan defender for FC Barcelona, ​​Ronald Araujo, broke his silence and spoke for the first time about the mental health issues that kept him off the pitch for several weeks, in an interview published this Wednesday by the Catalan newspaper Mundo Deportivo.

The situation reached its limit after Barcelona’s 3-0 defeat to Chelsea at the end of November, in a Champions League match in which Araujo was sent off when the score was still 1-0. After receiving criticism, the 26-year-old player decided to stop playing in order to try to recover, with Barça’s approval.

“At the time, with the adrenaline, you just leave the field. You feel sad, but then, when the game ends, everything collapses,” Araujo explained when asked about the moment he decided to stop.

“I already felt that I wasn’t well, that’s the truth, but out of inertia you try to keep going, and sometimes you need help. I had been dealing with anxiety for a year and a half, which turned into depression, and I was playing like that,” he admitted.

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Ronald Araújo – Photo: Marc Graupera – FC Barcelona

Understanding and support from the club

The player acknowledged that on that day, November 25, against Chelsea, he realized that “he needed to talk to professionals and with the club” so they could help him.

“From the very first moment, they understood, and the club gave me everything I needed to recover,” he emphasized.

The player insisted that he hadn’t been feeling well for some time: “You try to be strong, maybe because of your roots, where you come from, you start to move forward, but I felt that I wasn’t well; not just in sports, but also with my family and in my personal life.”

“It was at that moment that the penny dropped and I said: something is happening, I need to raise my hand and ask for help. I’m the kind of person who keeps everything to himself, but it’s also important to understand that there are professionals who can help, who can give you the tools to know how to deal with certain situations,” he emphasized.

Now, the defender says he sees “things from a different perspective” and that “the worst” is already behind him. “Today I feel like a completely different person,” he stated.

The harm of social media

Araujo also warned about the harm social media can cause to football players: “I try to protect myself, but when it affects your family, it’s very difficult (…) I remember one day when I was having mate with my wife. I saw her expression change as she looked at her phone and tears started to fall. I asked what she had seen, what had happened. ‘I don’t understand people’s malice, they’re wishing death upon our daughters,’ she told me.”

“When things reach that level, you rethink a lot, you realize how crazy society is, or how crazy people are on social media,” he added.

Two months after deciding to stop playing, Araujo returned to Barcelona’s starting lineup on February 3, in the Copa del Rey match against Albacete.

In that match, Barcelona won 2-1, with a goal from the Uruguayan defender, who celebrated with a hug from coach Hansi Flick. “I felt very comfortable. I think I played a good match. I also managed to contribute with a goal, and that was very good for me,” he said.

By AFP

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.