Vinnie Jones says he hates telling people he has mental health problems because they think he could be an axe murderer.
The football hardman-turned-actor said strangers often stand back, fearing there is something seriously wrong.
Speaking on the Headliners podcast Jones, 55, said: “I hate this word ‘mental health’ because I think it scares blokes, especially around my age.
“Because you’re kind of still a bit old school – you’ve got mental health problems, you could be a murderer or something like that.
“But it’s the umbrella of the mental health that we suffer from.
“Mine’s grief and tragedy. Divorce is massive for some people.”
"Divorce is massive for some people and people have breakdowns.
"But they’re all different pockets of it.
"I just don’t like, 'oh I’ve got mental health problems’.
"People stand back even now – ‘oh really, what kind?’, ‘well mine’s grief’, ‘that’s alright then, you’re not an axe murderer’.
"So I think that’s quite a hard thing for blokes especially to say, ‘I’ve got mental health problems, I’m seeing a psychologist’.’’
Jones – who won the FA Cup with Wimbledon – turned to the internet for clarity on how he was feeling after his beloved wife Tanya died last year (2019) aged 53 following a six-year battle with cancer.
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The actor, who has starred in Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Gone In 60 Seconds and X Men: The Last Stand, said: "What I want to bring to light now is we need to talk to professionals when you’ve got tragedy and grief and even divorces and things like that.
" So what I did, I started reading up on it.
" I went on Google and I started looking up grief and tragedies and stuff like that.
" It’s quite interesting reading and I think that will help people to submit to getting some help.’’
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