A RUGBY chief has confirmed he will enter a rehabilitation centre for 28 days after bravely revealing his long-term battle with mental health.

Chief Executive Officer of Pontypool RFC, Ben Jeffreys, helped lead the team to victory this year after claiming the WRU National Championship – the club's first piece of silverware in 14 years.

For years, the rugby boss was secretly battling with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and depression and entered treatment this week at the Priory Hospital in Bristol.

The hospital is the leading UK centre of support for individuals, couples and families offering both inpatient and outpatient treatment, addiction treatment and strategies for tackling eating disorders.

A statement, published on Twitter by Mr Jeffreys, said that his OCD, depression and addictive behaviours have “debilitated (him) for (his) entire adult life”.

“I enter rehab with an overriding sense of despondency for how I have somehow enabled these conditions to chip away at my appetite for life at such an overwhelming pace,” he said.

“When I reflect on how many days I have opted to stay at home in bed rather than spending time with my family and friends, enjoying my hobbies or developing my professional career – I think of all the many potential memories I never created and all the opportunities I have missed.

“I’ve deteriorated from an individual who had dreams and aspirations to a person who, other than Pontypool Rugby Club, has no discernible passion for anything whatsoever.

“I’ve quite simply lost the sensation of happiness, despite always being surrounded by the unconditional love from my wonderful wife and wider family.”

He added that “only a handful of people” understand the extent of the conditions on his health and it is “these people who will worry about (him) most” over the next month.

“They were the ones who wrestled with whether to have me sectioned in 2011 when I stopped sleeping, stopped eating and could not stop washing my hands for fear of catching an illness – this being just one of a laundry list of irrational OCD-led rituals I performed daily.

“And they were the ones who watched me completely collapse and fall apart in 2012 and 2013 as I nearly lost my wife several times to endometriosis and my father suffered a serious stroke.

“Those same people will know that I have come a long way since those exceptionally challenging times but they are also acutely aware that I still have a long way to go”.

Looking forward to his treatment, the Pontypool RFC head added he is going to do “everything possible to emerge from hospital with a renewed perspective and a hunger for life”.

“This is a battle I’m determined to win but I understand that this is a process that will take much more than 28 days to fully overcome,” he said.

“I would once again like to thank everybody who has offered me so many kind words of encouragement since I publicly shared my struggle with depression and OCD back in May.

“I will continue to be as open as possible about my experiences throughout this journey, for if doing so can encourage just one other person to begin the process of re-building their life by seeking help, then I will feel that I had some purpose after all.

“Until we meet again”.

For more information on the Priory Hospital's services on OCD and depression follow the below links. 

http://www.priorygroup.com/mental-health/obsessive-compulsive-disorder

http://www.priorygroup.com/mental-health/depression

If you are seeking support or help for mental health issues, call the Mind charity helpine on 03001233393 or visit www.mind.org.uk.