{"id":2763,"date":"2023-05-25T10:42:16","date_gmt":"2023-05-25T14:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/?p=2763"},"modified":"2023-05-25T10:42:16","modified_gmt":"2023-05-25T14:42:16","slug":"dwayne-johnson-openly-discusses-his-battle-with-depression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/2023\/05\/dwayne-johnson-openly-discusses-his-battle-with-depression.html","title":{"rendered":"Dwayne Johnson Openly Discusses His Battle With Depression"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_2775\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2775\" style=\"width: 768px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2775\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/410\/2023\/05\/dwayne-the-rock-johnson-credit-kathy-hutchins-shutterstock-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"dwayne johnson\" width=\"768\" height=\"576\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2775\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kathy Hutchins\/Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>During a recent episode of \u201cThe Pivot\u201d podcast, superstar Dwayne Johnson shared that he\u2019s had three battles with depression over the years.<\/p>\n<p>He explained, noting his excitement to succeed at his NFL dreams, \u201cThe first time depression hit me, I was at the University of Miami. I came in. I was balling out. I was going to be the only freshman to play. And at that time, we were national champions, defending national champions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, a shoulder injury prematurely ended his football career. Johnson explained, \u201cThat sent me in a tailspin. I didn\u2019t want to go to school. I was ready to leave. I left school. I didn\u2019t take any midterms, and I just left. But the interesting thing, at that time, is I just didn\u2019t know what it was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He continued, \u201cI didn\u2019t know what mental health was. I didn\u2019t know what depression was. I just knew I didn\u2019t want to be there. I wasn\u2019t going to any of the team meetings or participating in anything.\u201d That\u2019s when Johnson turned to wrestling, following in his father\u2019s footsteps, wrestler Rocky Johnson.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson said, \u201cI always say me playing in the NFL wound up being the best thing that never happened to me. Because it really helped shape and inform who I am.\u201d But that relief only comes from the benefit of hindsight, and he noted he faced other depressive episodes later in his life. He said, \u201cAt that time, it was a tough one for me, and again, I didn\u2019t know what it was. Years later, I went through it again when I got a divorce, and I didn\u2019t know what it was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MVc0592Je_o\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Eventually, Johnson learned how to cope and seek help when needed, saying, \u201cAround 2017 or so, went through [it] a little bit but knew what it was at that time, and luckily at that time I had some friends I could lean on and say, \u2018Hey, you know I feel a little wobbly now. I got a little struggle happening. I\u2019m seeing the gray and not the blue.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The actor and wrestler discussed the importance of friendship, like the one he has with co-star\u00a0Kevin Hart, adding, \u201cHaving friends is so vitally important as you just get a little older because you lean on each other. You can open up. If you\u2019re having a wobbly day, call me. I\u2019m there. Like that kind of stuff.\u201d Still, Johnson credited his daughters, Simone, Jasmine, and Tiana, for helping his depression.<\/p>\n<p>He shared, \u201cThe saving grace for me has really been my daughters and being a girl dad. That\u2019s been the saving grace because you look at them, and you realize; really, this is what it\u2019s all about. You look at the alternative to, how am I going to respond in this moment? What\u2019s the best way that I can respond in this moment? Not now \u2014 they\u2019re too young \u2014 but down the line, how I can help them. And this is how I responded to the moment, and hopefully, this will help you guys as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0\u201cBlack Adam\u201d\u00a0star also shared clips from the podcast episode on his social media, encouraging people to seek help if they struggle, writing, \u201cI\u2019ve worked hard over the years to gain the emotional tools to work through any mental pain that may come to test me. But years ago, I didn\u2019t know what mental health struggle was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Johnson also emphasized that men should seek mental health help and open up more, saying that men work through their problems without acknowledging them. However, he said talking to someone will make you feel better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During a recent episode of \u201cThe Pivot\u201d podcast, superstar Dwayne Johnson shared that he\u2019s had three battles with depression over the years. He explained, noting his excitement to succeed at his NFL dreams, \u201cThe first time depression hit me, I was at the University of Miami. I came in. I was balling out. I was&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":657,"featured_media":2775,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10,4,2],"tags":[112,660,7],"class_list":["post-2763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity","category-depression","category-mental-health","tag-depression","tag-dwayne-johnson","tag-mental-health"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Dwayne Johnson Openly Discusses His Battle With Depression<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Wrestler and actor Dwayne &quot;The Rock&quot; Johnson recently opened up about his battles with depression throughout the years.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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