Episode 66

 Learning to love the person, as well as the athlete.

 Jason Brown played over 200 matches as a professional footballer. He has played in the premier league, as well as representing his country, coaching at Arsenal Ladies, and managing in South East Asia. The list of players he has played alongside includes David Bentley, Brad Friedel, Gary Speed, and Gareth Bale.

When Jason looks back at his footballing career he can rightly do so with pride. But there remains a sadness to the time Jason spent as a footballer. The internal conflict between Jason the person, and Jason the athlete, which caused him to suffer from depression, and an eating disorder, ultimately motivated his decision to retire from the game in 2015 at the age of 33. 

Today we talk to Jason about childhood trauma, the death of his Charlton teammate Pierre Bolangi, his sadness at the suicide of Gary Speed, how Jason felt he lost himself to the wealth and fame that comes with being a footballer, and his ongoing relationship with mental health. 

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If you have been affected by any of the themes discussed in today's episode, we have listed some organisations below who are there if you need to talk:

Samaritans 

https://www.samaritans.org/

Papyrus UK

Papyrus Website

CALM ZONE

https://www.thecalmzone.net/help/helpline/

MIND

https://www.mind.org.uk/

The Kaleidoscope Plus Group

https://www.kaleidoscopeplus.org.uk/