Snooker - 'I looked at Ronnie O'Sullivan differently after that' - Graeme Dott reveals surprise call
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Updated 11/05/2021 at 10:41 GMT
Graeme Dott has spoken about how six-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan reached out to him with a surprise and heartfelt phone call when he was battling with depression. The Scot says the encounter meant a lot to him and he was touched by the concern that O'Sullivan showed for him, particularly given that the pair were not very close friends.
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Graeme Dott has revealed that Ronnie O’Sullivan went out of his way to phone him up and demonstrate his concern for his fellow player when he was struggling with depression.
The 43-year-old won the World Championship in 2006 but has battled with chronic depression since and taken medication to help him through.
Dott has revealed that O’Sullivan reached out to him to see how he was doing, having experienced similar challenges during his life, and showed empathy for his rival.
"My wife Elaine made me go to the doctors and he said he thought I had chronic depression," Dott told BBC Scotland.
"I was on medication for a while and I went through a spell when I didn't win a match. I lost something like 17 matches in a row, it was a lot, it might even have been a full season when I didn't win a match.
"I can't even remember being at the tournaments. I would go, take one shirt, because I knew I was going to get beat, because I hadn't really practised.
Funnily enough I actually got a phone call. Now I don't really speak to him at all - even now I don't really speak to him - but Ronnie phone me and was asking, because Ronnie has been through it as well.
"He was asking how I was feeling and what I was doing and was saying it was the same as what he was doing.
“I thought it was really nice of him to phone, because he doesn't really speak to me, it's not as if we're mates. I thought it was nice of him to do that, and I looked at him a different way after that."
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Dott added: "I can actually remember crying at the doctors, which I hadn't really done that much of either, and I even saw a therapist for a while as well.
"It was partly to do with not grieving properly when Alex died. Alex died and I was still playing snooker and hadn't really grieved properly.
I was doing really well until probably this year, it kind of raised its head again this year and I've struggled a little bit throughout the season, but I feel as if I've got it back under control just now.
"I think people who have got depression would understand, you don't really want to do anything, the things you normally enjoy in life you don't really like any more, you just want to sleep basically all the time.
"I was finding it quite tough, going to tournaments, playing, and just hating it, so it really is tough. It's a horrible illness, you wouldn't wish it on anyone."
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