There have been "three bouts of depression" for Dwayne Johnson. "I had no concept of what mental health was"

There was a dark period when Dwayne Johnson was in college that the actor remembers as his “first bout of depression.”

Before movie stardom and even professional wrestling, Johnson wanted to play professional football. But while playing for the highly ranked University of Miami’s football program, the “Black Adam” star was sidelined with a serious shoulder injury that required surgery. And with his dream crushed, his mental health suffered.

“I didn’t want to go to school, I was ready to leave, I left school, I didn’t take any midterms,” Johnson recalled last week on “The Pivot Podcast.” “At that time ... I didn’t know what mental health was, I didn’t know what depression was, I just knew I didn’t want to be there.”

During the hour-long interview with podcast co-hosts and former NFL players Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor and Channing Crowder, the “Jumanji” actor went on to share bits of his mental-health journey and the “three bouts of depression” he has faced in his life.

Another experience with depression was during his divorce from his first wife, Dany Garcia, in 2008. At the time, Johnson said, he still didn’t know what depression was, and he again went through it alone.

When his mental health began to decline again around 2017, Johnson said, he was finally able to identify his experience as depression.

“And luckily at that time, I had some friends I could lean on and say, ‘Hey you know I’m feeling a little wobbly now, got a little struggle happening, I’m seeing a little gray and not the blue,’” Johnson said.

This isn’t the first time the former professional wrestler has been candid about his mental health. In a 2021 interview with Men’s Health, Johnson shared how growing up he was never taught how to communicate his feelings or ask for help.

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