In the seventeenth episode of the Just Checking In Podcast, we spoke to former professional rugby player, Kearnan Myall.
Kearnan has played for a number of Premiership Rugby clubs including London Wasps and Sale Sharks. He started his career at Championship club Leeds Carnegie, now known as Yorkshire Carnegie.
Kearnan has also been capped by England at both England U18 and England Saxons level and was included in former Head Coach Stuart Lancaster’s squad for the 2013 tour of South America.
Kearnan is now studying for a PHD at Oxford University in Psychiatry.
In August 2019 he came out about his mental health issues in a Guardian interview and has since been a prominent and trailblazing mental health advocate in the professional sport community.
We talked about this article and his experiences of suicide and depression.
We also took a look back at his playing career, how the mental health of players is looked after in professional rugby, his PHD, the impact Stuart Lancaster had on his mental health, dressing room culture and of course, a mental health chat.
As always, #itsokaytovent
Read Kearnan’s Guardian interview with Robert Kitson here.
**TRIGGER WARNING**
This podcast contains discussions around suicide which some listeners may find distressing or upsetting so please listen with caution.
