Aaron Lennon believes he has made a full recovery from the stress-related illness that led to his brief detainment under the Mental Health Act two years ago but believes there are other footballers struggling in silence with problems around depression and anxiety.

“I have spoken to a couple of players about it to offer them advice,” the Burnley winger said. “They wanted to know what I’d been through and where to get help. There are probably still players out there who don’t want to talk about anything to anyone – I know because that is just what I was like – but my message would be to speak to someone because there is a lot of help available and it can really make a difference. The person I spoke to when I was being treated helped me massively within about 10 minutes.”

Aaron Lennon: Everton winger receives treatment for stress-related illness Read more

Lennon was speaking at the launch of a Burnley in the Community project which has reacted to rising levels of depression and suicide among teenagers by funding mental health practitioners in each of the area’s secondary schools. The idea is that students can raise problems or talk over anxieties with experts who can set them at ease and prevent the situation worsening through the feeling of suffering alone, something with which Lennon can readily identify.

“I’m not really the sort of person who finds it easy to ask for help; at least I wasn’t until a couple of years ago,” the 31-year-old former Tottenham and Everton player said. “As a footballer I knew how to look after my physical health but that was all – I didn’t know what to do about my mental wellbeing. I didn’t really know who to turn to when I started to feel low, and that’s why the situation got to where it did.”

Lennon was discovered in a distressed state close to a busy road in Salford in May 2017, after police were alerted by reports of a man in a precarious situation. He was in the final year of his contract with Everton and claimed he had become frustrated at losing his place in the first team, though he did say he had not been enjoying his football for the previous four or five years.

“It was a gradual process,” he said. “I didn’t realise I needed help until it was too late. I would tell my friends and family I was OK, but I really wasn’t. That’s why I think it’s brilliant that people are being put into schools, because people who need help can be difficult to spot, they tend to cover it up well.

“There’s a lot of pressure on kids nowadays, with social media and camera phones on top of their exams and schoolwork. I don’t think I’d want to go through it all again to be honest. What I would say though is that it is OK if you don’t feel great all the time, and that talking to people can help. I can really see the point of projects like this, because mental illness is definitely something you can recover from.”

• In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org. You can contact the mental health charity Mind by calling 0300 123 3393 or visiting mind.org.uk