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Shea Emry takes part in Bell's Let's Talk campaign, shares his story of depression to raise awareness of and funds for mental health programs
Shea Emry did something bold Wednesday, sharing his story of bullying and depression with CBC Radio's Sheila Coles. Emry's talked about his battles with depression before, but his interview Wednesday is particularly interesting both for what it says about football and what he wants to encourage other men to do. Emry spoke as part of Bell's Let's Talk campaign, where Bell will donate five cents to mental health initiatives Wednesday for every tweet with #BellLetsTalk, every share of their campaign Facebook image and every call or text made on their network. He told Coles about his personal struggles, Bell's campaign, and his own foundation, The Wellmen Project, which seeks to help men discuss and deal with mental health issues. Go here to listen to the full interview, or read on for highlights and a discussion of his comments.
It's particularly interesting how Emry tells Coles he largely turned to football because of bullying growing up. Many would see this big, tough linebacker today and imagine him as a potential bully rather than a victim, but Emry said some of the mental health issues he's faced have their roots in what happened to him when he was younger.
"I was bullied quite badly as a child, and as a result I had a very, very negative image of myself and my self-worth. My self-confidence was in the dumps. Luckily, I was able to find the vessel of sport to find a way out. It led me to playing football at a high level. It gave me an outlet, something to focus on, something to really put my time and energy into. I was very angry, and I wanted to prove a lot of things to a lot of people; it gave me a way to do that."
Emry said he appreciates that football's now given him a platform to speak out and hopefully change some attitudes about mental illness.
"Fortunately enough, I was quite good at a young age, and that allowed me to move on to the next ranks and allowed me to continually deal with what I was struggling with inside," he said.
Football wasn't always beneficial for Emry, though. In fact, the 2011 concussion he suffered while playing in the CFL brought back his depression in a severe way and led to him abusing drugs and alcohol. He told Coles that seeing Olympian Clara Hughes speak publicly about her battles with depression as part of the Let's Talk Campaign helped him realize he was facing the same thing, though, and after working through it with the help of therapists and other professionals, it gave him the motivation to speak out to try and help others.
"With this Let's Talk program, it's really allowed me to share my story and get it out," he said.
He said popular perceptions of masculinity can keep men from talking honestly about mental health struggles, which is what his foundation hopes to change:
"I feel like there's a big disconnect between the way that men actually are and the way we're told to be," he said. "The hypermasculine stereotype narrative that we've all been told our entire lives isn't working for a lot of people, and it didn't work for me. Yes, it allowed me to get to the point where I was like "I'm going to be tough, I'm going to be strong, I'm going to be fast, play football"...but really, it didn't allow me to accept the feelings that I was dealing with inside and let them out."
For Emry, his foundation is a way to communicate that message to others.
"Men are stereotypically not able to be emotive and share their feelings and be vulnerable," he said. "That's why I founded The Wellmen Project; I wanted to take men from a place of hardened, stubborn, typically manly men to a point where they're open and honest and feel free to be vulnerable."
