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Frank Bruno shares insight on mental health struggles

Almost two weeks ago, Frank Bruno's return to boxing was confirmed.   Not as a fighter ...



Frank Bruno shares insight on...
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Frank Bruno shares insight on mental health struggles

Almost two weeks ago, Frank Bruno's return to boxing was confirmed.  

Not as a fighter of course but the 55 year old former WBC heavyweight champion has been granted a licence to become a trainer.

And a new autobiography Let Me Be Frank is also due to hit the shelves. With all that on his plate, he joined Joe for a chat about his life and career.

One of the key elements in the books is the struggles that follow the high point of becoming a heavyweight world champion again in 1995 after defeating Oliver McCall. The year 1996 would see Mike Tyson defeat him for a second time and Bruno explained what it was like to face Iron Mike. 

Frank Bruno shares insight on mental health struggles

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"I went to New York when I was 19 and Mike Tyson was 15 and we were sparring partners for one another and we met and I see him when he was a kid and he'd grown up to be a fully grown man and whatever so I wasn't that scared of him," he said.

"I was more scared the second time with my eye rather than being scared of the man, Mike Tyson himself."

Bruno taking on Mike Tyson in 1996. SEAN DEMPSEY/PA Archive/PA Images

That issue with his retina led him to retire after that 1996 defeat and began a period of struggle, including using cocaine.

"When I was young, you used to experiment with all different things and you get involved with things that you never done when you were boxing but it was only a short time, not a long time getting involved in that," he said.

"Sometimes people take to drink, some people take to drugs, so it didn't happen for too long but you experiment - nothing that I'm very, very proud of. But nothing that I had any problems with." 

He also spoke about being diagnosed as having bipolar disorder and how he reacted to that news.

Bruno said: "I'm not Superman. I'm not God. I'm only human and in a job if you're paying your mortgage, you're in a relationship and you have a break-up, aren't you allowed to cry? Aren't you allowed to grieve? If you've got a loss in your family, some people grieve and some people lose it, they can't get themselves together and get very lethargic. The problem's on their mind, they're very, very stressed out over work, getting stress from their other half, all different things.

Sean Dempsey/PA Archive/PA Images

"So everybody if they look at themselves in the mirror have been through some point in their lives when they've been through sort of stress or nearly like nervous breakdown. Everyone goes through it. Some people come out but some people can't get over it. There's people committing suicide left, right and centre out there but it's a weird, weird world we live in. But everybody has some form of depression and mental health."

He added: "I still don't think I've got bipolar. Some days I feel good, some days I feel bad and some days you go through different stresses you can go through, so I think everybody has some sort of stint of a little bit of bipolar here and there, a stint of depression, a stint of anxiety." 

But on the experience of being sectioned, he continued: "It's an embarrassing thing an ambulance coming to your house. It's an embarrassing thing when your family, you think, want to get you sectioned and when you're in the section, it's one of the worst things that can ever happen to you."

He also spoke about the importance for him personally of getting off the medication, acknowledging that it can work for some, but that in his experience: "I couldn't do anything on the medication, it's the worst feeling, worst connection that you could ever go. You're slurring, you're mumbling, your face is puffing out, your head's down, you're like a zombie walking all around. It's not a nice feeling."

If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article you can contact Samaritans free anytime from any phone on 116 123 or visit www.samaritans.ie to find details of your nearest branch. You can also find online information at www.yourmentalhealth.ie

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