Dan Burn at Longsands Beach in Tynemouth
Dan Burn at Longsands Beach in Tynemouth
Newcastle United star Dan Burn admits he was forced to ditch social media after finding himself searching his own name after matches.
The Blyth lad has urged people to stage regular mental health check ins and admitted to Alan Shearer during the Premier League's Inside Matters initiative that he struggled with anxiety when he was younger. Shearer too spoke about some of the darker times of his early career and confessed that he may have seemed some help back in the 1990s had it been available to him.
Burn, speaking to BBC sport, said of social media and the impact it has on players: "It is huge and part of the reason I came off. I got into the habit of coming in from games and searching my own name to see what people were saying about me.
"And no matter how many good ones (comments) there were, it was the one person who would do it. That's all you would fixate on.
"The best thing I ever did was come off social media. I know now it is very easy for me to say don't go on social media but you don't need to be on it.
"It is your family's opinion that counts, your manager's opinion, those are the direct ones. Everybody else's shouldn't really matter. What we need to be mindful of on social media is that a lot of it isn't real. It can have a big effect on your mental health."
Burn reflected on his early career, during his stint at Fulham, and said: "I was embarrassed. I had mental health battles. I asked myself 'how can I be feeling like this, I am a Premier League footballer at 21'. But mental health does not discriminate and it affects everybody.
"Fulham were great with me and set up meetings with counsellors and therapists. Now if I sign for a new club you know that it is on offer and very accessible."
Shearer added: "I guess when I look back on my career, I left Newcastle as a city to go to Southampton and the enormity of that is massive. What is available to you now and what everyone hopefully openly speaks about it didn't happen then. That was a tough time for me.
"A tough time was also before Euro 96 when I hadn't scored for England for two years. You can imagine the stick I got then, I was hoping and praying I'd score going into that tournament. If some of the help available now was there it could have helped me."
Earlier this week Burn's team-mates Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall also opened up on mental health with the ex-Southampton star phoning Hall during his return from injuries.
To help fans access professional support, the Premier League is collaborating with Shout, a free, confidential 24/7 text support service for anyone in the UK who is struggling with their mental health, run by the charity Mental Health Innovations.
Fans can text 'SHOUT' to 85258 to receive round-the-clock support from trained volunteers, supervised and supported in real time by an expert clinical team.
Through the partnership, the League is providing funding for Shout’s helpline services over the weekend and during Mental Health Awareness Week. For more information on Inside Matters visit: www.premierleague.com/insidematters.