Toronto Raptors’ DeMar DeRozan Talks Depression: “Sometimes, It Gets The Best of You, Where Everything in the Whole World Is on Top of You”

– blogged by: @ashleytearra

Depression is a constant battle, and NBA star DeMar DeRozan is still fighting that battle, each and every day.

Just a week after briefly opening up about his bouts with depression on Twitter, the 28-year-old sat down for an interview with The Star to speak on the matter and how he has managed to cope, even when times get tough.

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“It’s one of those things that, no matter how indestructible we look like we are, we’re all human… at the end of the day,” DeRozan told the publication. “We all got feelings, all of that. Sometimes, it gets the best of you, where everything in the whole world [is] on top of you.”

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But, although life may knock him down, he’s always sure to get right back up—keeping himself busy with family, friends, basketball, and making it his duty to allot time out for himself.

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“I always have various nights. I’ve always been like that—since I was young, but I think that’s where my demeanor comes from,” he admitted. “I’m so quiet if you don’t know me. I stay standoffish, in a sense—in my own personal space, to be able to cope with whatever it is [I’ve] got to cope with.”

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However, DeRozan only hopes to inspire others with his story, as he has since grown to better understand and deal with his depression.

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“It’s not nothing I’m against or ashamed of. Now, at my age, I understand how many people go through [depression],” he said. “Even if it’s just somebody [who] can look at it like, ‘He goes through it, and he’s still out there being successful and doing this,’ I’m okay with that.”

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Later in the interview, he gave credit to his mother for always instilling in him to “never make fun of anybody because you never know what that person is going through.”

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“You can be the smallest person off the street or you could be the biggest person in the world. I’m going to treat everybody the same, with respect,” DeRozan stated. “I had friends who I thought were perfectly fine; next thing you know, they’re a drug addict and can’t remember yesterday. I never had a drink in my life because I grew up seeing so many people drinking their lives away to suppress the troubles they were going through.”