Thierry Henry's battle against depression

On the recent program The Diary Of A CEO, French football legend Thierry Henry opened up about his past struggles with depression and the excessive expectations placed on him by his father.

Thierry Henry during his time as assistant coach of the Belgian national team. Photo: AFP

"Throughout my career, I must have suffered from depression," Henry said. "Did I know it? No. Did I do anything about it? Obviously not. But I adapted in some way. I lied for a very long time because society wasn't ready to hear what I had to say."

Henry revealed that he was frequently criticized on the pitch by his father, Antoine, when he was a child, and spent his childhood trying to please his father. The French football legend then tried to please others throughout his entire illustrious playing career, comparing it to wearing a robe.

"I knew it before, but I was deceiving myself," Henry confessed. "I made sure those feelings wouldn't go too far, so I put on the cape. But when you're no longer a player, you can't wear that cape anymore."

It wasn't until football was paralyzed by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and he was stranded in Montreal, Canada, thousands of kilometers away from his family, that Henry admitted to mental health issues. "We tend to run away instead of facing the problem, that's what we always do. We try to keep busy, try to avoid the problem or not think about it," the former Arsenal striker confided. "Then Covid-19 came and I wondered why I was running away. I was isolated and not being able to see my children for a year was really difficult. I don't even need to explain it."

The 46-year-old star cries every day and recalls painful childhood experiences. "I cry almost every day, for no reason, the tears just flow," Henry expressed. "I don't know if it needed to happen. It's strange, but in a good way. There are things I can't control and I don't try to control them. From a young age, I was reminded not to show vulnerability. If you cry, what will they think? I cried, but maybe it was young Henry crying. He cried because of what he didn't get."

Henry (right) vies for the ball with Beppe Bergomi during the 1996-1997 UEFA Cup semi-final. Photo: UEFA

Henry recalled a story from his teenage years, when he scored six goals in a 6-0 victory for the youth team, but his father was still not satisfied. "I was 15 then, and you could tell who had the potential. My team was winning 6-0, and I scored six goals," Henry recounted. "I knew my dad's temperament; I could tell if he was happy or not. I'd turn around, and I could tell from any posture whether he was happy or not. We'd get in the car, and nobody would say anything. Then he'd ask me if I was happy. Should I have answered? Yes. 'So what? You shouldn't be like that because you missed the goal, that cross.' We'd arrived at my mother's house, and I'd hung my head. My mother's asked if I'd lost. It was like that all the time."

Henry said he had an "epiphany" when he decided to return to Montreal after spending time with his children. This led to the French star resigning as Montreal's head coach before the 2021 season. "I was getting ready to leave again, saying goodbye to my children. Then I put my bag down and everyone started crying," Henry recalled. "From the nanny to my girlfriend to the children. For the first time I felt loved, not as a football star with awards. I felt like a human being."

The 46-year-old former striker continued: "They cried for me. It was the first time I felt that, and the first time I was nurtured by love. I put my bag down, stayed, and stopped coaching in Montreal. 'What am I doing?' They loved me, not Henry, and I felt amazing."

Henry made his professional debut on August 31, 1994, playing for Monaco in a 0-2 defeat against Nice in Ligue 1. At that time, Monaco's manager, Arsene Wenger, recognized Henry's potential and moved him from center forward to winger. Henry helped Monaco win the Ligue 1 title in the 1996-1997 season before moving to Juventus.

Henry celebrates with Wenger after scoring a goal for Arsenal in the Premier League. Photo: AFP

After an unsuccessful season at Juventus, Henry reunited with Wenger at Arsenal and achieved great success. The striker, nicknamed "Son of the Wind," scored 175 goals, won the Premier League Golden Boot four times, and played a major role in helping Arsenal win two Premier League titles and three FA Cups between 1999 and 2007.

While playing for Barcelona, ​​Henry won one Champions League, two La Liga titles, and one Copa del Rey. After leaving Barca in 2010, Henry joined New York Red Bulls in the American Major League Soccer (MLS). He played there for five seasons and made a return to Arsenal on loan in the 2011-2012 season.

At the international level, Henry also won all the major titles with the French national team, including the 1998 World Cup, Euro 2000, and the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup.

In his coaching career, Henry has served twice as an assistant coach for the Belgian national team, and has managed Monaco and Montreal Impact. Currently, the former striker is the coach of the French U21 and Olympic teams preparing for the men's football tournament at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Hong Duy

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