DeMar DeRozan: "I Was Dying Inside, Dealing With Depression Really Lying To Myself"

DeMar DeRozan's memoir titled "Above the Noise: My Story of Chasing Calm" was released on Sept. 10 and it details his public struggle with depression. DeRozan has been very open about his internal battles and recently took to X, where he sent out a series of posts about it.

"My heart so big my scars won’t heal, I get so sick and tired even trying to fix it."

"I was dying inside, dealing with depression really lying to myself."

"Intelligence overrides ill intent, now I gotta fall back, disappear."

It is not clear if DeRozan was referring to the past battles he mentioned in his memoir or if some of these are new issues that he is tackling at the moment. If it's the latter, you hope the Sacramento Kings star gets the support he needs to pull through and get back in a good place mentally.

DeRozan has played a big part in breaking down the stigma surrounding athletes speaking about mental health. It all began back during All-Star weekend in 2018 when he tweeted about depression getting the better of him.

"This depression get the best of me."

It was a shocking revelation at the time. From the outside, you'd have thought that DeRozan would have felt like he was at the top of the world then. This was a Compton kid who had earned millions and was getting ready to play at the All-Star Game in Los Angeles and instead, he was struggling in a big way internally.

DeRozan fortunately got a lot of support and his speaking up gave courage to others to do so as well. They realized they weren't the only ones fighting these internal battles and decided to speak up, with Kevin Love perhaps being the most famous example. Love thanked DeRozan for speaking up and giving him the courage to do so as well.

Nowadays, we see athletes openly speaking about the internal battles that they're fighting. The public, at large, no longer considers them to lack mental toughness for admitting something of that sort and instead supports them, which is huge.

It's not just the public that's doing it either. The NBPA started a mental health and wellness program after DeRozan went public and the NBA has also created its own mental health program.

DeMar DeRozan Spoke About His Tweet From 2018

DeRozan recently appeared on First Take to promote his memoir and that tweet from 2018 was unsurprisingly brought up. The 35-year-old was asked how different of a place he is in now, compared to back then, and he kept it real .

"Then, you know, I was extremely lost and not knowing why because everything was going so great for me career-wise," DeRozan said. "At the height of my career—All-Stars, winning—everything was going perfect, you know, from a career standpoint, but not knowing emotionally and mentally where I was at.

"I think that night, tweeting that tweet, was me just hitting the wall," DeRozan stated. "And everything since then has been me kind of trying to build myself back up, you know, from a human standpoint."

As DeRozan stated, everything was going great if you looked at it on paper, but the reality was completely different. It doesn't matter who you are and what you've accomplished, those inner demons can start to eat you up. It's vital to speak out and look for help from others, which is what DeRozan did.

Related: DeMar DeRozan Gets Real On The Impact Of Social Media On NBA Players

Thank you for being a valued reader of Fadeaway World. If you liked this article, please consider following us on Google News . We really appreciate your support.