Ireland's Paul Gleghorne lined out against Great Britain, which includes in its ranks his brother Mark

One of Ireland's male professional hockey players has revealed that he credits a self-penned email for 'pulling him back from the brink' and saving his life.

Paul Gleghorne, who achieved notable success at the recent European Hockey Championships in London, said that he has struggled with his mental health for 'most of his life'.

He said decided to use his blog to highlight awareness for mental health issues.

"I have personally struggled with mental health issues for most of my life however I only sought professional help for it for the first time in January 2014.



"I debated long and hard about whether or not I would write something and share it when first asked," Paul said.



He admitted that he weighed up the positives and negatives and made a decision to share his experiences.



Paul courageously used his blog to recall a particularly painful day in his life:



"One day, I had enough and I decided I was finally going to end the pain.



"I went to visit the cemetery where my mother was buried.



"With tears in my eyes, I decided that I wasn’t going to give up either.



"I went home and sent myself an email to remind me to make an appointment with my doctor the next morning.

"I view that moment as the defining moment in my life so far.

Paul stresses the importance of looking out for friends and family.

You can read his full blog here.

If any of the above issues affect you - you can ring Samaritans 116 123 from the Republic of Ireland and 116 123 from the UK

Online Editors