Dwayne Johnson opens up on struggles with depression after his divorce from first wife Dany Garcia

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has opened up about his struggle with depression following his split from first wife Dany Garcia.

The 51-year-old wrestler turned actor and divorced his ex-wife in 2007 after ten years of marriage.

And while Dwayne was previously open about his mental health issues following his mother’s suicide attempt when he was 15, he has now shared the effect the breakup of his marriage had on him.

Speaking The Pivot PodcastDwayne admitted that his struggles with mental health began years earlier, but he struggled to express what he actually felt.

He said, “I left school, but the interesting thing about that time is that I didn’t know what mental health was. I didn’t know what depression was.

“I just knew I didn’t want to be there,” Johnson told “The Pivot” hosts and former NFL stars Channing Crowder, Fred Taylor, and Ryan Clark.

Dwayne said he struggled with his mental health and described struggling with depression after his college football career ended and later after his divorce from Dany.

He said this time he was able to identify his depression and “lean” on friends.

“I knew what it was like at the time and luckily I had some friends that I could lean on and say, ‘Hey, I’m feeling a little wobbly right now. I’m having a little struggle,'” he said.

Dwayne then opened up about the importance of “talking to someone,” adding that being aware of his “mental pain” has made all the difference.

“I have worked hard over the past few years to get the emotional tools to get through mental pain that could test me.

“As men, we didn’t talk about it. We just kept our heads down and worked through it. Not healthy, but that’s all we knew,” he said.

“If you’re going through your own version of mental well-being and turning into mental hell, the most important thing you can do is talk to someone,” he said. “Having the courage to talk to someone is your superpower.”

Johnson has previously delved into his past struggles with depression.

In a 2018 interview with Britain’s Express, he spoke of the trauma he felt following his mother’s suicide attempt when he was just 15.

After his family was evicted from their apartment when he was a teenager, Johnson’s mother Ata attempted suicide by parking her car and walking in the middle of a busy Nashville highway. Fortunately, cars braked and swerved to avoid hitting her.

“Struggle and pain are real. I was devastated and depressed,” he said in the interview.

“I got to a point where I didn’t want to do anything or go anywhere. I cried constantly.’

He opened up about the shocking incident in a 2018 Instagram post.

“I grabbed her and pulled her back onto the gravel embankment of the road,” Johnson captioned a photo from the set of his series Ballers.

“The crazy thing about that suicide attempt is that she can’t remember anything about it to this day. Probably best she doesn’t.’

He added: “We got lucky that day when I was 15 and that’s not always the case.”

Dwayne remarried his wife Lauren Hashian in 2019, after first meeting in 2006 while filming The Game Plan.

They share daughters, Tiana, five, and Jasmine, seven.

And despite Dwayne’s confession about the difficulties of his divorce, he previously rrevealed how he and his ex manage not only to co-parent, but to run a production company together.

The pair spoke to Good Morning America in 2019 about working as a team, citing “therapy” as the answer to their ongoing amazing friendship.

“Friendship and the extension of wanting the best for everyone,” Dany added to Dwayne’s “therapy” reply.

Along with their production company, the couple are parents to daughter, Simone Johnson.

“I had Simone when I was 29,” said The Rock, before his ex jokingly interjected, “Actually, I had Simone, but you were there too.”

“At 29, I was still trying to find myself,” the Furious 7 star added.

‘I flew past my pocket at that moment. I was in WWE, and since she’s joining a company I’ve enjoyed over the years, it brought us even closer.”

And truly proving that their family ties are stronger than ever, Dany later moved on and married Dwayne’s good friend and personal trainer, Dave Rienzi.

Johnson is now extremely busy, having announced he would be reprising his role as Maui in a live-action version of the Disney hit Moana and in the new DC League of Super Pets animated movie, lending his unmistakable voice to Krypto . the Super-Dog, who shares the same incredible powers as his owner Superman.

Together they fight crime in Metropolis, but he is tested like never before when Superman is kidnapped and Krypto must save him… despite the loss of his own powers.

He forms a team of shelter animals who have been given superpowers to help save Superman and the rest of the Justice League.

Johnson leads an all-star voice cast that includes regular collaborators Kevin Hart, Vanessa Bayer, Natasha Lyonne, Diego Luna, Marc Maron, Kate McKinnon, Keanu Reeves, Dascha Polanco, Ben Schwartz, Jemaine Clement, Daveed Diggs, Jameela Jami, Olivia Wilde and Thomas Middelditch.

Jared Stern and Sam Levine direct the animated superhero adventure, which will face new movie Vengeance in theaters plus the re-release of A24’s Everything Everywhere All At Once.

Box office forecasters have projected an opening weekend of between $40 million and $60 million for the animated adventure.