James Ryan admits self-doubt is his constant companion - even when things are going well.
Not surprisingly, Ireland's captain this weekend against Argentina was blown away by Keith Earls' recent TV interview in which he revealed he was diagnosed with bi-polar.
"I didn't even know," said Ryan. "So I saw it on the Late Late Show and it was pretty inspiring, to be honest.
"You talk about bravery but having the courage to speak like that so honestly on national TV was pretty inspiring for us.
"I didn't think I could think higher of Earlsy already, I was obviously wrong because off the back of that my admiration of him has even grown.
"We kind of already knew how big a character he was in here.
"But everybody else knows (now). The way he's able to normalise that - that it doesn't matter who you are or what you have going for you, mental health doesn't discriminate.
"In a way he has shown that. So yeah, pretty inspiring for us and for a lot of people out there."
Ryan, 25, has spoken already of his disappointment not to be selected for the Lions tour of South Africa.
The Leinster star struggled to regain peak form following a shoulder operation and Warren Gatland decided against picking a one-time Test start favourite against the Springboks.
Instead, he skippered Ireland against Japan and the USA at the Aviva Stadium.
However Ryan played his part in nullifying the All Blacks' formidable second row of Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick in Ireland's victory last Saturday.
"It probably wasn’t the easiest year, last season," he acknowledged. "Look, being a player performing at this level you always have doubts.
"I have doubts when things are going pretty well for me.
"There's a saying, 'if you doubt yourself you trust yourself'.
"You can never be comfortable and happy with where you are and I don't think I've ever been complacent.
"But this season has been good to me so far. Getting a few knocks, it takes a while to get your confidence back and build that up.
"I feel like I have that back now.
"To beat New Zealand at home felt very satisfying. Obviously a lot of work was put in and to come out the right side of it was pretty good."
In the absence of Johnny Sexton, Ryan gets another opportunity to lead the team out on Sunday.
Iain Henderson will call the line-out against the Pumas and, for Ryan and several others, it will be their third Test start in as many weeks.
He had a similarly tiring schedule last November and admits, by the second half of the third game against Scotland, he was "pretty wrecked".
Ryan said: "It's tough but we're managed pretty well.
"If it means we do a little less in the gym in the lead up or spend a bit more time in recovery, we've to be smart about getting our bodies right.
"But you look at World Cups and the schedules during those tournaments, that's what it's like. There's an element of needing to get used to it as well."
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