Aaron Lennon opens up on his mental health struggles – as former England and Tottenham winger admits he ‘wouldn’t be having the conversation’ if he wasn’t sectioned seven years ago
Aaron Lennon has opened up to Jamie Carragher and Ian Wright about his late-career mental health struggles.
Lennon retired from football in November 2022 at the age of 35, having played for the likes of Tottenham, England and Everton throughout his career.
His final playing days were spent at Burnley in his second spell at the club, having initially played for the Clarets between 2018 and 2020 before heading to Turkey for a short spell with Kayserispor.
In 2017, he was detained under the Mental Health Act 2007 and taken to hospital after police were called to reports of a threat to a man’s life while in Everton. He has since spoken out about the incident after receiving care for a stress-related illness.
Now the 37-year-old has opened the latest edition of The Overlap, describing how he felt around the time of the incident.
Aaron Lennon has opened up about the mental health problems he suffered when he was split
The former winger spoke to Jamie Carragher and Jamie Carragher about the incident seven years ago
Lennon played for England and Tottenham, among others, before moving to Burnley and Everton
“Seven years ago I was in a really, really bad place,” he began. ‘Like severe depression.
‘It probably started earlier, but I didn’t really know what was going on at the time. I just wake up every day and don’t realize why I’m feeling this way, energy is low, I didn’t really want to join in with the boys in training.
‘I was one of them, quite an old-fashioned personality, keep myself to myself. I always tried to take care of everyone. There was never a moment where I thought, should I go and ask the doctor, “I don’t feel good here?”
“So I just tried to push it aside, but it just kept getting worse. You get to a point where you can’t even get out of bed, you don’t want to be around people anymore, you just want to be in the dark.
‘I put on a mask. I could walk into a room and you’d be like, “He’s doing great”, I could go in with “Yeah guys”, do my training and get out. But then I would go home and literally go back to bed, and I did that for a long time.”
Lennon had not played for Everton for several months around the time of the incident, with police saying that ‘officers attended and a 30-year-old man was detained under section 136 of the Mental Health Act and taken to hospital for assessment . ‘.
Lennon continued: “Probably just before I joined Everton I was struggling. I couldn’t get out of bed. I couldn’t function.
‘At the time I thought it would pass. I don’t sleep. I don’t enjoy football anymore, I don’t enjoy anything off the field anymore, not even a night out or anything with the boys.
‘I didn’t want to do it to anyone else. I didn’t want to call my father and my family. I thought, “No, I’ll take care of this.” It reached the stage of suicidal ideation, so eventually I was assessed and sectioned. I was literally hospitalized.
‘I still wouldn’t have gone in. And that’s why to this day I tell people that if I hadn’t been assigned, I probably wouldn’t be here having this conversation.
He explained how he had trouble getting out of bed and started not enjoying football or socializing anymore
Lennon made a total of 607 club appearances during his career and also earned 21 caps for England
Lennon went on to play for both Burnley and Kayserispor after his recovery from the illness.
He eventually retired almost two years ago, having made a total of 607 appearances in his club career, as well as 21 for the England seniors.