Carlton Blues star Harry McKay opens up on mental health struggles

Star forward Harry McKay has opened up about his decision to take three weeks personal leave away from Carlton’s struggling senior outfit, revealing he was in such a bad place he had to put his hand up for help.

As the 2021 Coleman Medallist prepares for his senior return against West Coast Eagles on Saturday during Gather Round, he said his mental health started to suffer on the eve of the AFL season.

“I guess five or six weeks ago, late Feb, I started feeling in not a great place mentally,” McKay told The Ben and Harry Podcast.

McKay played the first round in Carlton’s shock loss to a rebuilding Richmond outfit and then stood himself down for the following three weeks – losses to Hawthorn, Western Bulldogs and Collingwood.

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“I think the most challenging part of that was me thinking I shouldn’t be feeling the way I was, and everything in my life, to be honest, was in a really great place,” he said.

McKay told his twin brother on their podcast that as he began to feel worse he started to “put on a bit of a facade to pretend to be okay when I really wasn’t”.

His brother asked him if that meant he “put on a mask” to hide his struggles.

“Exactly right,” Harry replied.