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May a ‘changed man’ after rehab stint
Former Panthers star Taylan May says his stint in a mental health facility has changed him and his approach to life.
The 23-year-old was sacked by the Panthers a year ago after a number of off-field incidents. May was also facing domestic violence charges and was subject to the NRL’s no-fault stand-down policy. Those charges were dropped in March, and May is now eyeing a return to the NRL.
I spoke to May recently, and he opened up on how deeply his sacking by the Panthers affected him.
“I got suicidal,” he said. “I had no support. And that’s what made me realise that footy friends are, like your school friends, you don’t really have them, like you thought you had them. I found out who my real boys are.
“Now that I’m starting to come back to footy, people are texting me now, but they weren’t before.”
May said he needed to escape, and spent time in a mental health facility.
“I spoke to my parents, and I thought I needed something, an escape or retreat,” he said. “Honestly, I was mentally drained from everything, and I just needed to get away.
“I got to meet a lot of people, like a lot of different people, but they’re very switched on. But yeah, it was very good. It was probably the best thing that could happen for me, and it opened my eyes up to a lot of things. I feel like I came out of it totally different; my mindset changed, my beliefs have changed. Just, yeah, I’m a whole different person now, and you sort of see that in my demeanour.”
He said the facility was far from a holiday, though.
“I started off in ... a bit of a low section,” he said. “And then they moved me up to the high dependency unit. And, man, the stuff I saw there. Like, there’s people that are claiming they were satanists ... like they were the devil. There’s people claiming that they were God.”
He said the experience definitely changed him.
“I just didn’t like the person that Taylan was,” he said. “Obviously I wasn’t an angel, but Taylan needed to change, and it’s just me changing. As it turns out, it was the best thing to happen. I’m grateful for it. It was also the hardest, one of the hardest things I’ve done in my life. I think it’s changed who I am as a person, and it’s opened my eyes up to a lot of different things. And it’s probably the best thing that’s happened to me.”
www.smh.com.au
Former Panthers star Taylan May says his stint in a mental health facility has changed him and his approach to life.
The 23-year-old was sacked by the Panthers a year ago after a number of off-field incidents. May was also facing domestic violence charges and was subject to the NRL’s no-fault stand-down policy. Those charges were dropped in March, and May is now eyeing a return to the NRL.
I spoke to May recently, and he opened up on how deeply his sacking by the Panthers affected him.
“I got suicidal,” he said. “I had no support. And that’s what made me realise that footy friends are, like your school friends, you don’t really have them, like you thought you had them. I found out who my real boys are.
“Now that I’m starting to come back to footy, people are texting me now, but they weren’t before.”
May said he needed to escape, and spent time in a mental health facility.
“I spoke to my parents, and I thought I needed something, an escape or retreat,” he said. “Honestly, I was mentally drained from everything, and I just needed to get away.
“I got to meet a lot of people, like a lot of different people, but they’re very switched on. But yeah, it was very good. It was probably the best thing that could happen for me, and it opened my eyes up to a lot of things. I feel like I came out of it totally different; my mindset changed, my beliefs have changed. Just, yeah, I’m a whole different person now, and you sort of see that in my demeanour.”
He said the facility was far from a holiday, though.
“I started off in ... a bit of a low section,” he said. “And then they moved me up to the high dependency unit. And, man, the stuff I saw there. Like, there’s people that are claiming they were satanists ... like they were the devil. There’s people claiming that they were God.”
He said the experience definitely changed him.
“I just didn’t like the person that Taylan was,” he said. “Obviously I wasn’t an angel, but Taylan needed to change, and it’s just me changing. As it turns out, it was the best thing to happen. I’m grateful for it. It was also the hardest, one of the hardest things I’ve done in my life. I think it’s changed who I am as a person, and it’s opened my eyes up to a lot of different things. And it’s probably the best thing that’s happened to me.”
‘I didn’t learn a thing’: Maloney slams Flanagan’s coaching in 2016 NRL premiership
James Maloney and Shane Flanagan won a breakthrough title together with Cronulla. The retired No.6 says he was coaching the team.
