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“I Was Going to Kill Myself”: Ryan Garcia Describes Severe Mental Health Crisis He Has Gone Through Amid Recent Meltdown

Published 03/15/2024, 7:00 AM EDT

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Is Ryan Garcia back on track? The boxing community is cautiously optimistic following the young star’s unusual rants on social media for the past few weeks. In a video, Garcia symbolically signed a “contract” on a Bible, pledging his commitment to mental and physical well-being. This move comes after a period of concerning behavior from Garcia ahead of his fight against Devin Haney.

His social media activity hinted at a potential departure from his usual intense training videos. Fans and critics alike are worried that distractions and poor mental health might derail his promising career. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore; in fact, Garcia revealed that he’s already faced mental health issues in the past, and currently, he’s trying to find his true self.

Ryan Garcia narrates a dark story from the past

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Ryan Garcia talked about how he has been through rough patches in terms of mental health, two times in the past. The first time, when he was just about to turn pro, at the age of 17, he was depressed and felt anxious. ‘KingRy’ recounted how he used to take NyQuil and had weird thoughts about having cancer. However,  he got out of his depression when he got into the first serious relationship of his life, and in a way, love saved him.

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The second time was when he was about to face Luke Campbell back in 2021. During that time, Garcia was on a spiritual journey. But then he went too deep into his thoughts which made him fall into a spiral loop of depression. He stated, “I was so depressed, to the point where I wanted to kill myself. Yeah I was on, I remember the moment I was driving in a car I had a bunch of pills that they gave me, and I was going to put it all in my mouth it’s like I’m done, there’s no way. I couldn’t remember anything I lost my train of thought every 10 seconds I was like forgetful Tom from ’50 First Dates’.

Then, he talked about how things gradually changed for him, as he tried to know himself more. However, he is still on a journey of healing and improvement. Lately, in one of the videos posted on his Instagram account, he preached how it’s necessary to always be the hardest worker in the room.

Garcia explains what it means to be the “best boss”

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Rising boxing star Ryan Garcia is putting in the work, and he wants the world to know it. In a social media post, Garcia, drenched in sweat, wasn’t just talking the talk, he was walking the walk. Garcia woke up before his entire team and hit the ground running. He acknowledged the importance of leading by example, emphasizing that champions are forged in the fire of relentless dedication.

He stated, “If you’re a boss, you need to show them why you’re the best boss in the world. If you’re gonna be a fighter, you gotta show the other fighters, you’re the best fighter in the world. And there’s gonna be so many distractions, so many things trying to stop you from running. I mean, my phone wasn’t charged. I didn’t have my headphones. But that doesn’t matter. Because at the end of the day, sometimes you just gotta do it yourself.

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Well, his recent social media posts are a big deviation from the content he was posting in the previous weeks, and now he has taken a different route altogether. What are your thoughts about Ryan Garcia’s mental health journey? Let us know in the comments section.

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Written by:

Chirag Radhyan

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Chirag Radhyan is a senior boxing writer at EssentiallySports. Having authored close to 2K articles, he is a live-coverage specialist, contributing to the detailed reportage of live boxing events ranging from the Jermell Charlo vs Canelo Alvarez bout to Ryan Garcia vs Gervonta Davis. Moreover, his coverage of the off-court drama between Jake Paul and Tommy Fury received widespread appreciation from readers.
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Edited by:

Arijit Saha