Chris Mears spoke candidly on Wednesday about his mental health experiences as an Olympic gold medal winner.
The 28-year old became an Olympic Champion alongside Jack Laugher in the men's 3m Synchronised Diving event in Rio in 2016.
In particular, Mears touched on the difficulty he found returning to normal life after the end of the Olympic games. Speaking on the BBC, he said: "It just came crashing down. No-one teaches you how to process becoming an Olympic Champion."
Mears also spoke about the difficulty of driving happiness and motivation after achieving your ultimate goal: "For years I told myself that I'd be happy when I get this, and when I get to this position I'll be happy- and then I got it and I wasn't."
Mears continued: "It took me maybe three years to really find myself again."
When asked about how he emerged from what Mears himself described as a "deep depression", the Reading native was unequivocal in his answer:
"For me, it was therapy. As males we don't talk about mental health enough - it is starting to happen but it is so important.
"A lot of females are more open to talking about stuff; they'll go to their girls and talk about how stuff is going. Males just go 'alright lad, you'll be fine'."
Mears was later asked about how he went about reaching out in the first place, and had a simple yet effective answer.
"I googled therapy, literally. I knew I needed it so badly, and that was all it took for me. That was my first step and I do not regret it."
The conversation came in light of Simone Biles' decision to withdraw from the team gymnastics final and the all-around individual final at Tokyo 2020 as a result of her own mental health difficulties.
As yet it is unclear whether or not she will compete in the other finals she has qualified for.
.jpg?w=600)
