Everything
For AFL fanatics, many would remember Tom Boyd at the height of his career in 2016, where he helped the Western Sydney Bulldogs win their first premiership since 1954. The young athlete was just 21-years-old. After battling with a series of injuries from 2018, the footballer called it quits in mid-May, 2019. You could say Boyd had it all, a beautiful girlfriend (now his fiancee), a high-flying career – even a new dog. What some may not have realised is that he was in fact struggling with severe insomnia and depression, which he has only just revealed.
Speaking with Hamish McLachlan, Boyd has appeared in an honest and emotional interview dubbed ‘Last Time I Cried’.
“I’m not a physical crier but I remember the last time where I was so distraught that I didn’t know what was going to happen next,” Boyd told Hamish McLachlan in the new series Last Time I Cried.
“Everyone in my life was telling me how good I’ve got it and I’m just absolutely, 100 per cent miserable.”
The turning point for the player was realising he couldn’t play the weekend’s match, and in turn called his psychologist Lisa Stevens. After working against his body and mind, he announced his retirement.
“It’s so satisfying not trying to squeeze everyone into a profile that doesn’t fit a lot of people. That’s where I got my identify crisis from to a degree.
“Now I have the option to choose.”
Last Time I Cried, presented by AIA Vitality, will speak to some of the game’s biggest names including Trent Cotchin, Patrick Dangerfield and Campbell Brown. According to a report by the Black Dog Institute, one in five Australians aged between 16 and 85 experience a mental health illness in any year. What is more alarming is that 54 percent of people with mental illness do not access any treatment.
If you need urgent assistance, please contact Lifeline immediately.
