Franzen admits he's living with PTSD: 'My whole world falls apart'
Former Detroit Red Wings forward Johan Franzen was forced to retire from the NHL three years ago due to concussions and has since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, as he battles with depression, severe anxiety, and panic attacks.
"Sometimes my whole world falls apart and I can't see the light in the end of the tunnel," Franzen told Gunnar Nordstrom of SportExpressen. "All I can do then is to sleep and lay in my bed. I take antidepressants and try to feel better again. But it quickly gets dark. Very dark."
The 39-year-old's last NHL contest was Oct. 10, 2015, which was the second game of an attempted comeback from a concussion he sustained in January of the same year.
Franzen has continued to feel the effects of that head trauma in the years since.
"Most of the time I think I am moving in the right direction, but when I have the down periods there is nothing positive. I almost give up then, and it is even worse because you think you have been better for a while," he said.
"It's embarrassing. I can speak to one person and the next day I've forgotten his or her name."
His wife, Cissi, wrote a blog in May about her husband's struggles, describing living with him as "not easy" and "like a rollercoaster."
Franzen believes moving back to his native Sweden from Detroit could help ease some of his pain
"I used to go to the mountains. As soon as I see a mountain I feel better."