Patric: ‘I suffered from panic attacks’ at Lazio

Lazio defender Patric has revealed more details of his mental health battles, admitting to ‘panic attacks and depression’ during his time at the club.

The centre-back has already spoken about his struggles before, citing the lockdown period when COVID first hit Italy in March 2020 as the trigger for these issues.

Speaking to Lazio Style TV this week, Patric went into more detail on what he was dealing with while trying to pretend to everyone that he was just fine.

“For a while I had panic attacks. Then I would wake up in the morning with no desire to do anything, I had lost all sense of enjoyment in life.

“The last thing I wanted to do was play football. At times, I was a bit too nice, as everyone else was injured and I had to play, I felt like I couldn’t let anyone down.

“I said to myself, ‘how can I not play just because I feel like this?’ It would’ve been too easy to give up. I was in a bad way at that time, but that experience made me become who I am today. If I hadn’t faced down those fears, I wouldn’t have matured so much.”

Patric a long-term Lazio defender

Patric recently turned 31 and has been at Lazio since 2015, having come through the youth academies of Villarreal and Barcelona.

His contract with the Biancocelesti runs to June 2027.