CELTIC hero Henrik Larsson has opened up on his personal agony after losing his brother Robert.
The 35-year-old passed away following a drug overdose and Larsson admits the shock death hit him hard.
Speaking to Kris Boyd and Robert Snodgrass on the Lockdown Tactics Podcast, the Swede revealed that he sought professional help following Robert’s passing and he encouraged listeners to do the same if they are suffering from anxiety or mental health issues.
Larsson also urged podcast co-host Boyd, who lost his brother Scott to suicide, to seek professional help too.
He said: "There are a lot of times that you feel you are uncertain about yourself and things are maybe not going as well as you want.
"Or there are things that happen that you are not in control of.
"During my time in Scotland I had a brother who was on drugs.
"Knowing the things I knew about him and having to perform week in week out it wasn't easy.
"At the end he took an overdose on drugs. I knew the pressure my parents felt about that. The worry they had every night.
"And me as well sometimes, it isn't easy.
"So it was important I talk a lot and still talk to this day with my wife about things I maybe didn't want to talk about with other people.
"It is important to share what you feel in order for somebody to be able to help you, whether that is professional - which I did after my brother passed away.
"I had a period where I wasn't feeling very good.
"I had a lot of questions and my wife said to me you have to go and talk to somebody in order to straighten a few things out.
"I did that, went to see a professional, talked to her about a few different things and I felt so much better after that.
"I think it is important and I think it is good that people talk about mentally ill things nowadays because I think it is nothing to be ashamed of.
"It is important to share, just a question of finding someone to share it with.
"You can be as strong as you like but you need to share some things with different people to get some input.
"If that means you are going to cry, then that is not bad. If you cry, you feel relief, even though it is tough things you are talking about.
"It is important to get things off your chest. If you can't share things with people, then it is going to be difficult.
"I would recommend a professional because that helped me a lot.
"Talk to people is my message and I think you [Boyd] should talk to someone too, I think it is important."
In response to Larsson’s advice, Boyd added: "I never spoke to someone after I lost my brother and it is maybe in the back of my mind, to try to do it, to get some comfort.
"You are right - you always look back and think what could I have done, could I have done more."
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