Barcelona captain Ronald Araujo has explained he was living with anxiety for a year and a half and sought help as this became depression.
Araujo, 26, was granted indefinite leave by Barcelona at the beginning of December after requesting a period of absence. He returned to the team at the end of January and last Tuesday’s Copa del Rey win over Albacete was his first start since the 3-0 Champions League loss at Chelsea on November 25, in which he was sent off after 44 minutes.
The Uruguay international explained he had been feeling “not totally right” before the Chelsea match, but that game marked when he realised “this was enough”. He subsequently spoke with the club to seek professional help.
“When the match finished I felt like everything was falling into me,” Araujo told Spanish news outlet Mundo Deportivo.
“I had been suffering (with) anxiety for a year and a half, and then it turned into depression. I was playing with that. It does not help, because when you’re on the pitch you don’t feel like yourself. I know my value and what I can add to the team, but I was not feeling well and knew something was going on.”
Araujo explained he was not usually the sort of person to ask for help and would tend to “keep everything to himself”, but realised he had reached a point where he needed to speak to someone if he was to recover.
The defender spent seven matches away from the side before returning to training at the end of December.
He made substitute appearances against Real Madrid in the Supercopa de Espana final, Copenhagen in the Champions League and Elche in La Liga in January, before starting and captaining the side against Albacete.
Araujo said he feels like “the worst part is behind me” and described his break from football as “important.”
“It did me very good and now I feel like a totally different person,” he added.
Araujo has made 195 appearances for Barcelona since joining from Boston River in 2018.
Barca return to action against Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey on Thursday.
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