Dele Alli Bravely Reveals Addiction, Abuse And Mental Problems

• Dele Alli bravely opens up Addiction, abuse and mental health issues.

Everton midfielder Dele Alli has opened up in an extraordinary interview with Gary Neville, touching on addiction issues, abuse he suffered as a child and mental health struggles.

Speaking on the most recent episode of Neville’s The Overlap, Dele admitted to being addicted to sleeping pills and having recently spent time at a rehabilitation clinic in America.

Dele also revealed a heart-breaking story from his childhood in which he was was molested by a friend of his biological mother.

After bursting on to the scene at Tottenham eight years ago and becoming a regular in the England squad, the 27-year-old has recently struggled for regular game time at Everton and on loan at Besiktas.

Now, for the first time, Dele has candidly opened up about his off-field struggles.

“I got addicted to sleeping tablets, it’s a problem not only I have. It’s going around more than people realise in football,” he said.

“Now is probably the right time to tell people. It’s tough to talk about it as it’s quite recent and something I’ve hid for a long time and I’m scared to talk about.

“When I came back from Turkey (following a loan spell at Besiktas) I came back and found out I needed an operation.

“I was in a bad place mentally. I decided to go to a modern rehab facility that deals with addiction and mental health and trauma. I felt it was time for me.

“You can’t be told to go there, you have to make the decision yourself.

“I was in a bad cycle. I was relying on things that were doing me harm. I was waking up every day, winning the fight going into training every day smiling – willing to show I was happy.

“Inside I was losing the battle and it was time to change. When I was told I needed surgery I could feel the feelings I had when the cycle began.

“So I went there for six weeks. Everton were amazing and supported I will be grateful to them for ever. For them to be so honest and understanding I couldn’t ask for anything more during a time I was making the biggest decision of my life – doing something I was scared to do. I’m happy I’ve done it.

“There is a stigma around it and it’s something people don’t want to do. Going into rehab is scary but I could never have imagined how much I would get from it.

“I was in a bad place. A lot happened to me when I was younger that I couldn’t understand and I was doing stupid things that I blame myself for.

“Going there and learning about it, it was never really under my control.

“Understanding learning it has helped. I let go of some bad feelings I was holding which was slowing me down.”

Dele also shared details of his traumatic childhood, including an incident that saw him molested.

“(My childhood is) something I haven’t really spoken about that much, to be honest. I mean, I think there were a few incidents that could give you kind of a brief understanding,” the former Tottenham midfielder said.

“So, at six, I was molested by my mum’s friend, who was at the house a lot. My mum was an alcoholic, and that happened at six. I was sent to Africa to learn discipline, and then I was sent back.

“At seven, I started smoking, eight I started dealing drugs. An older person told me that they wouldn’t stop a kid on a bike, so I rode around with my football, and then underneath I’d have the drugs, that was eight. Eleven, I was hung off a bridge by a guy from the next estate, a man.

“Twelve, I was adopted – and from then, it was like – I was adopted by an amazing family like I said, I couldn’t have asked for better people to do what they’d done for me. If God created people, it was them.

“They were amazing, and they’ve helped me a lot, and that was another thing, you know – when I started living with them, it was hard for me to really open up to them, because I felt within myself, it was easy to get rid of me again.

“I tried to be the best kid I could be for them. I stayed with them from 12, and then started playing first-team, professionally, at 16. It all sort of took off from there.”

There is hope for Dele, with the midfielder confirming that, despite a recent injury, he is back at Everton and looking forward to starting a new chapter with the club in this upcoming season.