Simon Thern speaks out about his anxiety

Thern has not played for several weeks and the explanation has been that he suffers from an after-infection virus after the flu.

But that's more than that.

According to Thern, the virus triggered an anxiety that he is now in the midst of fighting through.

- It goes up and down but it gets better all the time, he says in an interview with nt.se

The midfielder has started training again with the team and exclusively tells the magazine about the illness and the tough road back.

- I don't want it to just come out in our channels because then it can appear as too "controlled" that we can decide for ourselves. I want to have another independent to give another picture but then it is enough. I will not answer if anyone calls, clarifies Thern for Norrköpings Tidningar.

- It's been three or four weeks since I started feeling a common illness virus that I had for four five days. Then it was further built on that my whole self was impaired and felt bad. It wasn't even that I could be among people like that, he says, and begins to cry.

Dale Reese, IFK Norrköping's sports injury therapist and associate with the men's national team, explains the physical cause that caused Thern's mental nausea.

- It is a general overload with hard matching plus a virus that has entered the body. The total reduction made it difficult for him to recover in a normal way. The diagnosis is still a viral infection. We have not addressed any psychological aspects. It counts as overwork and some kind of anxiety that has been triggered by this virus, Reese responds.

Thern has daily contact with a psychologist.

- It's Dale who should have "cred" for it. He quickly realized that it was not good, says Thern.

Conversations with the psychologist help.

- If you compare me three weeks back versus now I would not have been able to sit here. Yesterday I trained and it felt good. The football itself feels good and just when I am running I have no problems. I do not feel impaired or that I can do less when I am active and do something. It comes more when you are down in turns and pondering as well.

Simon Thern spends time with two companies besides football. He also has a family and became a dad in January.

- I may have had a good deal to do. This is probably why it became too much. In the end, the head doesn't work.

Already this summer, the body sent out warning signals.

- He felt that the heart was a little rhythmic so we did tests on it. But that was to exclude it. The tests showed nothing. But if you look at the journals now it was perhaps a small warning about what we are sitting here today. But we didn't know it then. It might have been a small alarm clock anyway, says Dale Reese.