Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo opens up on anxiety, mental health battle over last 18 months

Barcelona captain Ronald Araujo has for the first time opened up publicly about his mental health battle since taking a leave of absence. Araujo ended up missing around four weeks of action after being sent off against Chelsea in late November, which proved the breaking point.

During his time off, Araujo worked with mental health experts in order to recover, taking a break from football and even traveling to Jerusalem on a religious pilgrimage, which he described as ‘the key’ to his recovery. In an in-depth interview with MD, Araujo has explained that he is doing much better now.

“Things have changed quite a bit because I’ve learned so much during this time. I think it was the right thing to do after that decision I made. I feel different and I’m happy about it, because I’m more at ease, happier. I can enjoy what I love to do, which is playing football, and that helps a lot.”

“It’s different… you see things from another perspective. I felt like the worst of the worst was over, and now I see things differently. The time I took off was for a reason, because in the end I was able to work through it with professionals, with my family, and spiritually, which is what I needed. So I think that did me a lot of good, and today I feel like a completely different person.”

Deco: "I'm very happy for Ronald Araújo, for having overcome a difficult and complicated moment, something that we have all gone through at some point in our lives. He's a player we need, but beyond football and anything else, the most important thing is that he is well."… pic.twitter.com/ihNwvvcRYl

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) February 11, 2026

Araujo on his red card against Chelsea

The Uruguayan defender explained that it was not simply his red card against Chelsea which set off a dip in his mental health, but rather it was the point at which he realised he had to change something.

“It was a combination of things. I hadn’t been doing well for a long time, maybe more than a year and a half. You try to be strong, perhaps because of your roots, where you come from, you start to push through, but I felt like I wasn’t okay. Not just in sports, but also in my family and personal life. I wasn’t feeling like myself, and that was when it clicked and I said: something’s wrong, I need to speak up and ask for help. I’m the type of person who keeps everything to myself, but you also have to understand that there are professionals who can help you, give you tools to know how to handle certain situations… I needed to speak up and say that something was wrong with me so I could recover.”

It was back in the dressing room that the impact him.

“In the moment, with the adrenaline rush, you just go off the pitch. You feel sad, but then, when the game is over, it all comes crashing down on you. I already felt like I wasn’t okay, that’s the truth, but out of habit you try to keep going, and sometimes you need help. I’d been dealing with anxiety for a year and a half that turned into depression, and I was playing like that. That doesn’t help, because on the pitch you don’t really feel like yourself. You know your worth and what you can contribute on the pitch, and when I wasn’t feeling well, I knew something was wrong. That day I realised that was it, that I needed to talk to professionals and the club so they could help me.”

‘We’re people beyond just footballers’ – Araujo

Continuing on, Araujo highlighted the fact that regardless of the status of footballers, it does not provide them with an extra mental shield.

“Ultimately, we’re people beyond just footballers. It’s not all about money, it’s not all about fame. We also suffer because of the things that happen on the pitch. We’re fortunate to do what we do, yes, but there’s the person behind it all, there are the feelings. I’m grateful to everyone because I saw so much support during that time I decided to stop, and that helps. We have to understand that beyond being footballers, we’re people.”

Opening up to Deco and Hansi Flick

Araujo also detailed the process of opening up to the club and the coaching staff. He praised his teammates for their support, and indeed players from across Europe for their reactions across football, but the first point of call was Director of Football Deco.

“First, I spoke with Deco because he’s the sporting director, who’s close to us. I told him what was happening. At first, it took him a bit by surprise, because it’s not very common for a Barcelona player to tell him these things, but he took it very well, very personally. From the very first minute, Deco called the president and the manager. They were amazing. I’m very grateful to Deco, the president, the manager, and also to the people behind the scenes who might not be seen: Alejandro [Echevarria], Bojan [Krkic]… who are part of our daily lives. They were very important. From the very beginning, they understood, and the club gave me everything I needed to recover. That’s also based on the confidence they have in me as a player.”

Hansi Flick in particular took it upon himself to look out for Araujo.

“He took it very personally. He was upset about the situation. Flick knows my abilities, and it was clear I wasn’t performing to my full potential. He knew something was wrong. From the beginning, he sent me messages telling me to take it easy and recover, that the most important thing was to get through it well. That gives you peace of mind to recover because you know you have the support of the club, the manager, and your teammates.”

The impact of social media on footballers

One of the hot debates surrounding football is the impact of social media and criticism on players, and how to isolate, or assimilate that from a club’s point of view.

“As time goes by, you begin to understand where you are and what it is, the magnitude of everything you do. I tried to avoid it, but in the end, it reaches you through a friend, a brother, your family… I try to shield myself, but when it affects your family, it’s devastating. It affects your wife, your father, your siblings… Maybe people can’t reach you directly, but they know that by targeting your family, they can.”

“Let me tell you something to illustrate the scale of what’s happening. I remember one day, drinking mate with my wife. I saw her expression change as she looked at her phone, and tears welled up in her eyes. I asked her what she saw, what happened. ‘I don’t understand people’s evil; they’re wishing death upon our daughters,’ she told me. When things reach that level, you rethink many things, you see how crazy society is, or how crazy people are on social media. It might not affect you directly, but your family suffers, your mother and your wife suffer, your siblings too. They will have to learn, obviously, because it is the world we live in today, unfortunately, but it is difficult when it affects the family.”

Araujo noted in the interview that he was looking forward to continuing his career at Barcelona, with a contract until 2031, and had no plans for a fresh start elsewhere. Calling Barcelona and the city ‘home’,  he explained that he felt the worst of it was behind him, and was confident about getting back to his best.

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