Rugby league legend Sean Long feels more his old self again following suicide ...

Sean Long enjoyed a glittering 17-year career before injury forced him to hang up his boots

Former Great Britain, England and St Helens man Sean Long insists he is feeling more his old self again after a suicide attempt earlier this year.

The 37-year-old tried to kill himself in January after a two-and-a-half year battle with depression only to be saved by friends and family before being sectioned.

Long is now being looked after by his mother and brother, while he also thanks ex-Saints colleagues Martin Gleeson and Keiron Cunningham for helping him stabilise his life.

“I feel the best I’ve felt in a long time. I’m wide awake and alert again. I think it’s just been nipped in the bud,” he told the Sunday People.

“I feel the best I’ve felt in a long time. I’m wide awake and alert again.”

Sean Long

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“Any longer and I’d have gone under. I was off the scale but they helped bring me back down. It’s a big thing, depression – it gets hold of you. I’m glad I’m out the other side.”

Long struggled off the field since being forced to retire from rugby league due to injury. The Wiganer, who won the Lance Todd Trophy three times, admits being unable to play the game took its toll.

Injury

“I didn’t finish playing on my terms really. It was the injuries,” he continued. “I didn’t know at the time but I’ve had depression and suffered from anxiety over two-and-a-half years.

“I didn’t know what depression was. It’s not something men talk about. I just felt a little bit weird, a little bit different. I had family problems as well.

“I just felt like I’d had enough. I didn’t know I was ill. It was a cry for help. I needed help. This illness is killing loads of people.

“It’s only now that I’m learning to speak to people about what I was going through that I realise a lot of people have been in this situation before.

“I tried to take an overdose then I was going to go into the garage and try to start the car with the door down. That’s all I could get in my head. Next day I couldn’t remember any of it. I found out later who helped me.”

Article source: http://www.express.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/442325/England-31-Argentina-12-Billy-Twelvetrees-solves-muddle-in-the-middle

Rugby league legend Sean Long feels more his old self again following suicide ...