A former quarterback for the Detroit Lions is sharing his battle with mental health issues in hopes it helps others.
Eric Hipple battled bouts of depression and nearly took his own life before his own son committed suicide.
Hipple says after he was out of the NFL he struggled to find his worth and that led to his problems. He's hoping his story will encourage others to seek help. "When you go through that some people don't make it, and so it's to save lives and also help people have a quality of life and an understanding that they have value."
"I think there's more knowledge that can come from community and saying we're here, but here's the knowledge for each family to have," says Hipple. "So we can recognize these things and not get caught in this cycle of co-morbidity and alcoholism and drug use and all that stuff we have a chance to get out of it."
Hipple has authored two books on his struggles, "Real Men Do Cry" and the newly released "Living Life on the Offence."