Montreal Gazette

NFLers Marshall, Foster using project to help destigmati­ze mental illness

- KRISTIE RIEKEN

Arian Foster was in a bad place, drinking heavily to self-medicate and deal with the problems in his life.

The Houston Texans running back knew he needed help but was reluctant to seek it because of the stigma surroundin­g mental health issues. He overcame that fear, sought therapy and it changed his life.

“It just got to a point where I just threw my hands in the air and I was like: ‘This is going to kill me,”’ Foster said. “So I went and got help and it was the best decision I ever made.”

Now that he’s embraced the benefits of counsellin­g, Foster has joined the Jets’ Brandon Marshall’s PROJECT 375, a non-profit organizati­on dedicated to eradicatin­g the stigma surroundin­g mental illnesses and disorders. Foster is the first of what Marshall hopes will become a group of athletes, entertaine­rs and business leaders who will talk openly about the issue as members of what he calls the organizati­on’s founders circle.

Marshall, a receiver for the New York Jets, was diagnosed with borderline personalit­y disorder in 2011 when he sought treatment after off-the-field issues threatened to derail his career. He and his wife, Michi, formed the organizati­on and dedicated themselves to helping others with mental illnesses.

Doing this gave Marshall purpose and looking back he’s so thankful he received his diagnosis and treatment when he did.

“I had a chance to lose my wife, possibly my career, and that would have been a lot, especially at the age of 27. I probably wouldn’t have been able to cope and deal with that,” Marshall said.

“So I’m glad that we took the proper steps, did the work, and now we’ve went from patient to provider.”

Foster said he grew up in a home with domestic violence where there wasn’t enough food at times. When he made it to the NFL, he found a whole new set of problems related to money and whom to trust.

“It’s just so much pressure and nobody tells you how to deal with it,” Foster said.

He didn’t see counsellin­g as an option.

“I was drinking heavily. I was,” he said. “I’m not proud of it. But it was something that helped me because it was numbing and what I found out, which was extremely powerful, was the emotions that you numb you can’t be selective with. So everything that you numb that you’re trying to numb you also numb everything good. So I was blocking out a lot of love”

He didn’t hit rock bottom until his then-wife, Romina, made a lifechangi­ng decision.

“It was when my wife decided that we were going to get a divorce,” he said. “This is extremely personal, but I was just not the best husband. I just wasn’t. And that was because I didn’t know how to be a husband ... I was out there just trying to wing it.”

His time in counsellin­g helped Foster stop his destructiv­e behaviour. But soon after he started to feel happy again, he tore a groin muscle in training camp. He says he was okay, though, because of the mental work he’d put in.

He returned on Oct. 4 and was riding high. Happy on the football field, proud of the father he’d become and enjoying life overall. Just four games after his return came another blow; Foster tore his Achilles tendon and would miss the rest of the season.

“It’s like ... man I can’t catch a break,” he said. “But I’ve done so much emotional work that it didn’t really faze me either.”

Foster’s passion for this cause isn’t only because of his struggles. He has another big reason for wanting to help. “My sister is bipolar,” Foster said. For many years Christina Foster’s illness went undiagnose­d.

“We didn’t have money to get any kind of diagnosis so we just thought that she was a ( jerk),” Foster said. “It got to the point where I stopped talking to her because I couldn’t deal with it, and I didn’t know what she was going through. So we lost years of our life because we didn’t know she was suffering from this disease.”

She finally received help and is better now, which has allowed the two to repair their fractured relationsh­ip.

A condition of allowing Foster to share her story was that he include the happy ending.

“She said absolutely, but make sure that you tell them that it’s a story of triumph,” Foster said. “She takes the proper medicine and it’s a struggle still, but every single day she fights it and she’s on her way to get her master’s (degree).”

Marshall loves hearing people’s stories because each one is valuable in starting to erase the stigma of discussing mental illness.

“The thing that is therapeuti­c ... is when I’m helping other people,” Marshall said. “It’s so freeing and rewarding. It also holds me accountabl­e to continue to take the proper steps when I’m not feeling well, I’m having a bad day to ... use the tools and skills that I have to make sure I get back on track.”

 ?? PAT SULLIVAN/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ?? Houston Texans’ Arian Foster has joined New York Jets receiver Brandon Marshall’s PROJECT 375.
PAT SULLIVAN/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Houston Texans’ Arian Foster has joined New York Jets receiver Brandon Marshall’s PROJECT 375.

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