‘A huge inspiration’ – Neil Robertson on how ‘fantastic’ Tyson Fury helped wife Mille win mental health battle

Neil Robertson has praised Tyson Fury for speaking honestly about his battle with depression, citing the heavyweight boxer as a key inspiration for his wife Mille’s success in dealing with anxiety and reliance on alcohol to overcome the health disease. mental.

The Masters champion admits Mille suffered similar challenges as Fury, whose weight infamously increased when he turned to drugs and drinking to help him cope with the fallout of becoming world heavyweight boxing champion with victory over the Ukrainian icon Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015.

“Mille is on top of it. She tries to help people and talk to people about it too. The person I always go back to is Tyson Fury when he did that documentary,” Robertson said.

“She was talking about her problems. Pretty much all of her experiences, other than drugs, were all that Mille went through.

“I’m sure it’s something that millions of people around the world have also gone through who have to deal with this.

“He’s been a huge inspiration with what he’s done to talk about it. He’s still very active on social media and he’s always talking about it, even if he’s having a bit of a bad day himself.”

“It’s great to see people like that come out and talk about it. He’s made a huge financial breakthrough by getting more financial support to people who really need it.”

Robertson said she turned to Ronnie O’Sullivan for advice after Mille was taken to hospital in 2018 when she realized intensive specialist treatment would be needed to deal with alcohol abuse and the grim shadow of suicidal thoughts.

“I was crying when I left. [Fellow professional] Barry Hawkins saw me and texted me right away saying ‘Hope all is well mate’.

“I got home and they had taken Mille to the hospital. Something pretty bad happened. I didn’t know what to do. I called Django because he was one of the few people who knew what was going on and we were just trying to find help.

“We had already been to a couple of specialists and he wasn’t really doing much. Django knew Ronnie very well and Ronnie had been through similar things where he talked about depression and I’m pretty sure Ronnie has dealt with anxiety and depression. Social”. anxiety.

“Ronnie put me in touch with these people who have been through that and gotten over the other side. That was the beginning of the healing process of helping Mille get back on her feet.

“He went to a rehab clinic which was absolutely amazing. It cost a lot of money.

“That’s why I get frustrated when I hear stories of people committing suicide when they haven’t had the help because they can’t afford it,” said the Melbourne native, who has won 23 ranking titles between 2006 and 2022 in a golden career.

“I know the NHS tries to do everything they can, but they just don’t have the funds to help everyone.

“I was in a very lucky position to be able to pay the money to put her in a private clinic where she stayed for a month.

“They gave him the tools to use. He came out of alcohol and everything. It was a tough process, but when he came out he was really transformed.”

“You still go to AA meetings and talk about it. It’s something that gets you through it.”

“What he has done is absolutely unbelievable,” he said. “She tried to raise her child as best she could, and through it all, she got a master’s degree from Cambridge University. That’s hard enough if you don’t have problems.”

“Having me in snooker tournaments and trying to deal with anxiety and depression. For me, it beats anything I’ve ever accomplished in snooker. For her to do that on a personal level is absolutely amazing.”

“Everything is fine now. We have a great life and she has made a full recovery.”

“It starts with anxiety and people start using other things to help them get through it,” Robertson said.

“Mille used alcohol, a glass of wine to cool down and relax at first, then more and more you need more to suppress it, but then the anxiety gets worse. Then you get depressed because you’re feeding your body things that won.” it won’t make you feel good.

“Basically I would lose, go home, try to help Mille as much as possible, get [son] Alexander to school. I barely practiced because I spent four or five hours every day researching anxiety and trying to find a way to help.”

In the UK and Republic of Ireland, contact Samaritans on 116 123 or email [email protected].