‘I was crying almost every day’ – Thierry Henry opens up on lifelong battle with depression

Thierry Henry has opened up about his lifelong battle with depression, saying that at one point he was crying almost every day.

The Arsenal legend enjoyed the sort of career that many can only dream of after winning the World Cup with France and becoming the Gunners’ all-time top goalscorer.

But as we’re very aware, success and fame are not remedies for problems with mental health.

Henry was a guest on the Diary of a CEO podcast with Steven Bartlett and says that issues with his father have played a role in his struggles.

He explained: “Throughout my career, and since I was born, I must have been in depression.

“Did I know it? No. Did I do something about it? No. But I adapted to a certain way. That doesn’t mean I’m walking straight, but I’m walking. You’ve got to put one foot (forward) and another one, and walk. That’s what I’ve been told since I’m young.

“I never stopped walking, then maybe I would have realised. (But during) COVID – I stopped walking. I couldn’t. Then you start to realise.”

Henry revealed in the interview that he wore a ‘cape’ for when he was struggling during his playing days, a defence mechanism that fell away after retiring in 2014.

Since retiring as a player, the ex-forward has worked with Belgium’s national team and French giants Monaco before taking charge of Montreal Impact in 2019, leaving him stranded in Canada when the pandemic hit.

Discussing the impact, Henry said: “I was in isolation in Montreal, and not being able to see my kids for a year was tough.”

3

After saying he was ‘crying almost every day for no reason’, Henry added: “Tears were coming alone. Why I don’t know, but maybe they were there for a very long time.

“Technically, it wasn’t me, it was the young me. (Crying for) everything he didn’t get, approval.”

Henry said his father was “very particular at times on how I was as a player”, adding: “As a little boy it was always ‘you didn’t do that well’. So obviously when you hear that more often than not, that’s what’s going to stay.”

But while the football world adores Thierry Henry, the legendary figure says that one moment in 2021 showed him what was truly important.

Speaking about a time when he was leaving his family to fly back to Montreal, he said: “I put my bags down to say bye and everybody starts to cry, from the nanny to my girlfriend to the kids.

“For the first time…I am like ‘oh – they see me, not the football player, not the accolades’, and I felt human.

“I put my bags down and I stopped coaching in Montreal. I said ‘What am I doing? Going to go again into a situation just because of your pursuit of pleasing people?

“They love Thierry, not Thierry Henry.’ I stayed, for the first time I felt human…and it felt nice.”

3