Johnny Manziel’s diagnosis: What is bipolar disorder?
Former NFL quarterback Johnny Manziel says he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder
Mental illness has impacted NFL player Johnny Manziel. The former Cleveland Browns quarterback revealed to the world Monday he is being treated for bipolar disorder.
“Watching other guys doing what I want to be doing and I’m sitting on the couch, being a loser,” Manziel said during an interview on “Good Morning America,” where he detailed his downward spiral of depression and alcohol use.
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“I had a sense of entitlement about what I had accomplished at the age that I accomplished it, and I got so ingrained in caring about what Johnny wanted,” Manziel recounted.
The former Heisman trophy winner admitted he used drugs and alcohol to self-medicate. The 25-year-old player went into a downward spiral after he experienced a series of issues from inconsistent play to a domestic assault charge that was eventually dropped, and then being cut from the Cleveland Browns.
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After spending some time in rehab, Manziel was diagnosed with bipolar disorder less than a year ago. Since then, he’s been taking medication and going to therapy.
“At the end of the day, when you’re left staring at the ceiling by yourself and you’re back in that depression and back in that hole, that dark hole of sitting in a room by yourself, being super depressed, thinking about all the mistakes you’ve made in your life. Where did that get me? Where did that get me beside out of the NFL? Where did that get me? Disgraced?” Manziel said.
Johnny Manziel says he hopes to get back to the NFL.
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