Rex Chapman shares advice to those struggling with mental health

Rex Chapman spent years trying to hide how he felt, but it wasn’t until he finally found someone to talk to that his healing began. Now that he’s in a better place, he’s on a mission to inspire others who may be struggling.

The former NBA and Kentucky basketball player recently released a memoir titled “It’s Hard for Me to Live with Me” detailing his battle with addiction and depression. Chapman went in depth on his struggles with drug and gambling addictions, which caused him to lose nearly everything.

Speaking on The Paul Finebaum Show on Tuesday, he offered some insight into his journey as well as advice.

“My pride was always so strong that I couldn’t really let anybody see that I was struggling in any way,” Chapman said. “I always had the basketball game and the team and the box score and all that that gave me self-worth. That’s who I felt like I was and for my whole life that’s who I was. Just a basketball player. I didn’t know really anything else. I think if there’s a message, I really would say find somebody you can talk to when you don’t feel well. Somebody you can trust that doesn’t care what you’re telling them.”

Sharing his story with the world wasn’t an easy thing for Chapman to do. There were part of the book he found difficult to write, but it was Seth Davis, who co-authored the book with Chapman, who encouraged him.

Chapman also began seeing a therapist, which he believes was critical on his path to recovery. Talking through his emotions helped him to gain a better understanding of himself and he hopes others will be willing to give it a try.

“Seth Davis told me time and time again, I would get to hard places in this book and he would say, ‘hey, man, listen. No shame,'” Chapman explained. “He’s telling me this as we went in to it. ‘I’m not judging you on this. If it’s gonna help people, it has to be honest.’ So I would say find someone you can talk to and if you can afford to go to therapy, go to therapy.

“I’d have never gotten through this without Kim Peabody, Greg German. Therapists who helped me figure out kind of what was going on in my crazy head.”

It took Chapman decades to work on himself, but now he’s in a place that he can be proud of. Although he might have once considered himself “just a basketball player,” his impact now will go far beyond anything he ever accomplished on the court.