Life of an NRL star is not always the glitz and glamour we see through the silver screen.
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Former South Sydney, Penrtih player Joe Williams visited Armidale on Friday as part of an Armajun workshop on mental health.
Williams spoke to the crowd about his own battles with mental health and how he needed help.
“A lot of people see that I was involved in the NRL for a number of years and then I was a boxer and won some titles as a boxer,” he said.
“They see my life as somebody who played sport and somebody who was reasonably successful at sport.
“What a lot of people don’t know is that although I did some pretty cool things, what a lot of people don’t realise is I battled behind closed doors like many, many people in communities.
“Although, on the outside of my house and my home, things looked like they were going well and things looked like they were in order, behind closed doors I couldn’t stand the sight of myself.
“I was battling enormous mental and emotional pain that I was struggling to understand and get hold of.
“Now I am lucky enough to travel across the country and internationally as well.
“My job is to connect with different communities where I go.
“One thing I do notice is that communities are in enormous mental and physical pain.”
Williams spoke about a concussion he had as a teenager that triggered his mental health problems.
“I didn’t realise it at the time but later with education and understanding about what concussions actually do, concussions actually cause mental health issues because it is impacting our brains,” he said.
“From the age of 13 on the back of that concussion, I started to have a negative dialogue that was put inside my head that now, on the back of research and understanding, I understand now it comes from that concussion because of the impacts head knocks and brain traumas have.
“I had a thought process that was going through my head that was like a conversation, that was as vivid as somebody sitting down talking to me.
“It was a conversation that told me that I would never amount to anything, that I wouldn’t be good at anything I chose to do.
“It second-guessed and questioned every decision I made.
“It told me I should end my life.”
Williams spoke about his drug and alcohol abuse to avoid facing “the enemy within.”
He said he turned to substances to “quieten down the thoughts” going on in his head.
Williams decided he needed to address the issues and made the choice to do so.
He emphasised that it is a choice and a problem which needs to be addressed.
He found what he needed and now visits communities within NSW to address regional mental health issues and encourage others to speak up.
The Armajun workshop also included a talk from Greg Strong who works locally addressing domestic violence.
In Australia, one woman a week dies from domestic violence.
An Aboriginal women is 34 times more likely to suffer domestic violence than other Australian women.
Contacts:
- Armajun Aboriginal Health Service: 213 Rusden St, Armidale (02) 6772 5258
- Lifeline 13 11 14
- BeyondBlue 1300 22 4636