The picture of his physical condition that Lee Tomlin posted on social media says it all.

The weight has fallen off and his hard work to get himself in shape for the new campaign has been worth it.

'I'm the fittest I've ever been,' he beams proudly, reflecting on a gruelling fitness regime that has seen him drop 13kg – just over two stone - in a matter of months.

Lee Tomlin has revealed his battle with mental illness which drove him to the brink of suicide

Tomlin posted to his social media to show that he is in the best physical condition of his life

However, there has also been a vast improvement to his mental state thanks to help at Cardiff

What is impossible to see in a picture is that the huge, suffocating weight on his mind that drove Tomlin to the brink of suicide has gone, too.

'I've obviously had problems off the pitch,' he said in an understated way that, unlike his photo, didn't do anything like tell the full story. 'That's all sorted. I'm in the right frame of mind now.'

Throughout his career Tomlin's technical ability has never been in doubt. 'The issue has always been my fitness,' said the 30-year-old Cardiff midfielder.

Though he never imagined that mental health problems would come his way.

'I never took anything too seriously,' he says. 'I'd laugh things off if they were said, things like that. That was just me.'

But mental health problems don't discriminate, as he now knows. 'It just shows how strong and powerful the mind can be,' he says.

Tomlin's talents lifted him to the Premier League when he joined Bournemouth from Middlesbrough for £3.5million in 2015 but made just six appearances before leaving for Bristol City.

The Cardiff man believes his problems show how mental health problems don't discriminate

His performances earned a move to Cardiff in 2017 but by the start of last season found himself training with the youth team. It was then his problems quickly snowballed.

'The transfer window had shut, the loan window had shut, I couldn't go anywhere,' he explained. 'I found it difficult to find purpose.

'Everything that had happened in previous years, I had probably not dealt with properly and it just exploded.

'As you get older you mature and think more and I started focusing on worst case scenarios. For example after football, what do you do then? And life in general, overthinking everything took its toll on me.

'You always have bad days in football but to think the sort of things I was thinking at the time, it was obviously a lot deeper than that than your average bad day.

'I was sitting in bed at 2am, 3am with the worst thoughts … about hanging myself, slitting my wrists, sitting there crying. I'd have the tablets in my hand.'

At the beginning of last season he was training with the youth team and problems snowballed

On one occasion Tomlin recalls trying to end his life while driving home on the M69. 'I just pulled my car off the road into a ditch,' he says. 'Wrote it off. I kept it quiet, didn't say a word. Just went and got a new car.

'Do I remember much before it happened? Nope. Sometimes I don't even know how I got home from Cardiff to Leicester. Afterwards I remember thinking, 'What have I done there?'

'I thought I was going to get thrown in a mental institution so I just said to anyone who asked that I took the corner too fast. I knew that if I was honest I'm not going to be able to play football again, because, with the thoughts in my head I wasn't right.'

Confirmation came a few days later.

'I was playing in a reserve game against Coventry, my head was all over the place and I got sent off after 10 minutes,' he said.

'The ref gave a bad decision and I called him every name under the sun and carried on until I got sent off for dissent.

'The manager [Jarred Harvey] said, 'You weren't there. I could see in your eyes. Even before the game you weren't there. You were weird.'

'I said to him, 'I don't know what's happening, I don't really care.' Obviously I had a lot more things to think about.

'Once I got home I thought, 'You know what, this is only going to get worse and worse' and the same night he messaged [then academy coach] Craig Bellamy and told him because they were close.

'That night Bellamy rang me saying, 'Jarred is worried about you. There is something wrong in your head. I want you to make sure you're alright. You need to go and see someone as soon as possible.'

Tomlin revealed that an intervention from youth coach Craig Bellamy proved a pivotal moment

The former Wales international was alerted after Tomlin was sent off in a reserve match

That was the vital intervention Tomlin needed.

'Somebody like that saying it, along with my agents Clive Platt and Will Salthouse, they are the ones that made me think 'yeah, I really do,' he says.

'Neil Warnock and Michelle, the secretary at Cardiff, Clive, Will, The PFA and Sporting Chance too, what they have done for me and how much they have helped has been unbelievable, to get me in touch with people and start trying to sort myself out instead of just hiding and thinking the worst.

'I can't thank them all enough. Warnock knows literally everything that has gone on and got the club to let me go out on loan [to Peterborough] so I could basically be back home and try to get my head back into football.

'I was seeing a therapist in Loughborough who I had about 16 sessions with and it was there I got things off my chest and allowed me to speak about things that way.

'I'm really happy that I've done it sooner rather than later because you never know what could have happened.'

Attitudes in football have changed significantly since Tomlin started playing senior football aged 16 at Rushden and Diamonds.

Mental health is no longer a taboo subject highlighted by the increasing number of players who have bravely spoken out. His advice to any players who might be struggling?

'If you're having quite a few down days go and speak to a professional straight away. It doesn't have to be a deep conversation,' Tomlin says.

Tomlin started playing senior football at Rushden and Diamonds, here playing MK Dons in 2010

'Someone that won't judge you but will just be honest, then you don't feel ashamed because you don't know that person.

'If I had spoken to people like that years ago it wouldn't have got to the stage it did.'

It is surely no coincidence that, with his mind now free, Tomlin has been able to successfully address the fitness issues he has battled throughout his career, even if they have never stopped him being selected, earning moves or running the same distances as his significantly lighter team-mates.

Since the end of last season, Tomlin has continued the work he started with former Peterborough fitness coach Lee Taylor, eating the right foods, portions, drinking 'a hell of a lot more water' and sticking religiously to his training regime.

Tomlin has put himself through twice daily training sessions – treadmill running, weights, sit-ups and press ups in the morning and another run before bed – with a round of golf – 'that's what I love to do to try and keep me calm and relaxed' – in between, every Monday to Friday with only the weekend's off.

Even when he took his two boys Micah and Oscar to Dubai, Tomlin didn't stray from his plan. The slimline Tomlin back in pre-season training with Cardiff is a far cry from the player who returned from his summer break to Middlesbrough in 2015.

Tomlin admits he cannot wait to kick on after sticking to his strict pre-season training regime

He said: 'We were in Marbella for pre-season playing Leyton Orient and there was a side-on picture of me that was horrendous.

'It looked Photoshopped. Everyone was like, 'Jesus Christ'. I've got low ribs so they will always stick out and it will always look like I'm carrying a bit. 'My bodyweight can also go up and down. I'm that sort of build.

'I had to play the full game because [manager] Aitor Karanka said, 'What have you done, look at the state of you' but I could only play half a game and more or less needed an oxygen tank.'

Such his ability that didn't prevent him progressing. A few weeks later Tomlin joined Bournemouth ahead of their first ever Premier League campaign.

'Eddie Howe had me in from 8am to 5pm, running my t*** off,' he says. 'I got really fit then but when I compare it to now, it was nowhere near how good I am.'

Now there are no obstacles for Tomlin, mental or physical, which is why he can't wait for the new campaign.

'I want to see the reaction or excuse people can give to me now,' he says. 'I want to kick on. I know if I'm this fit I can play for anyone in the Championship. Hopefully I can play, get Cardiff back to the Premier League and stay there.'