WESTERN Bulldogs premiership hero Tom Boyd is unsure where he would be if he ignored help to deal with his mental health battle.
The 22-year-old will front a headspace campaign to help young men stay on top of their mental health after he spent time out of the AFL last year to work through depression and anxiety.
Boyd says he suffered insomnia and panic attacks as his mental health worsened, as far back as 2016, when he starred in the Bulldogs' historic grand final win.
The former No.1 draft pick is encouraging other people to seek help if they are struggling with their mental health.
"Clearly we had an amazing year (in 2016) and managed to win the flag, which was an incredible experience but it probably covered up a lot of the cracks that started to appear in my mental health," Boyd said in a headspace video.
"I was really struggling with quite a bit of stress, and though I didn't know it at the time, a bit of anxiety and really not feeling great about myself.
"I started suffering from quite bad insomnia and spent probably a month to six weeks without really sleeping at all.
"The real moment where my mind started to turn was having panic attacks when I was driving and the physiological effects of your heart racing, sweating, can't concentrate, feeling dizzy and that was a really challenging period of time in my life.
"I was seeing a psychologist from the club, who was an amazing support for me and quite honestly I'm not sure what would have happened if she wasn't there."
Boyd is just one of many leading Australian sportsmen to be involved with the campaign.
Young Socceroos star Daniel Arzani, NSW State of Origin hero James Tedesco, Test batsman Usman Khawaja, Wallabies ace Kurtley Beale and Carlton veteran Dale Thomas have also put together videos for headspace.
More to come
