ISAIAH JONES is proud he has successfully emerged from a “dark place” - and is determined to make up for lost time after admitting he suffered a “wasted year” because of his mental-health issues.

Earlier this summer, Jones bared his soul in an interview on the Beautiful Game podcast, discussing the difficult times he had experienced as he was forced to take a leave of absence from Middlesbrough’s first-team squad last season.

Jones suffered the loss of seven family members in the space of 12 months at a time when his partner was pregnant, and admits he struggled to cope with the mental issues that were taking over his life.

He discussed his problems with Boro head coach Michael Carrick and members of the club’s medical staff, and was removed from the first-team limelight as he began seeing a psychologist to help work through his issues.

Half-a-year on, and the 24-year-old is in a much better place, both on and off the field. He feels as though he has got on top of his mental-health problems, thanks to the support of his family and colleagues at Middlesbrough, and is back to his best on the pitch, starring on the right of Boro’s midfield and scoring in each of the club’s last two matches.

“I feel better at home, at training,” said Jones. “I’m a happy guy. Before, I used to come in upset but didn’t used to tell anyone, but now I’m in a better place, I feel like the old me again. Hopefully, I can give the fans what I gave them in my breakthrough season and make up for last year.

“Last year, in my eyes, was a year wasted. After the breakthrough season I had, and then going through what I went through, I’m trying to make up for lost time and hopefully I can do that. I feel like I’m still young. I haven’t played a lot of games. I’m still learning my trade.”

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Last season, things came to a head when Jones received a phone-call while on the team coach in the build-up to a game. It was his mum calling, to tell him that yet another family member had passed away, and while he went on to play in the game that followed, he admits his head was all over the place.

He was clearly not himself in training, and while unburdening himself to Carrick proved the starting point on the road to recovery, there were still some extremely difficult days to overcome.

“I’m better now, but it was a tough time last year, you know,” said Jones. “I thought it was the right time to speak out when the season was done.

“When you’re in that dark place, you might not want to talk about it and you feel embarrassed or whatever, but as a grown man and a footballer I wanted to make people, the community, in the game and on Teesside, comfortable to speak up about the problems they’re having in their life.”

The Northern Echo: Middlesbrough winger Isaiah JonesMiddlesbrough winger Isaiah Jones (Image: Andrew Varley)

Jones does not want to stop there as he is keen to draw on his own experiences to help those who might be going through similar tough times.

His message is clear – whatever the problems, no matter how you might be feeling, speak out and seek help. It worked for him, even though his initial reaction was to try to hide what was wrong.

“I want to start a mental health campaign in the community, so people can be open about their problems,” he said. “It’s not easy to speak out, when you’re talking to a psychologist every day, but the more you talk, the more it helps you and takes the weight off your shoulders.

“To talk about the problems you’re going through, a lot of others will be going through that, and you can help them and they might be able to help you.”

Jones is also grateful to the Boro fans who stuck by him, and who showed their support by draping a banner over one of the fences at the club’s Rockliffe Park training ground in the summer.

“I want to say thank you very much for that,” he said. “I was overwhelmed. Me and my family are stable again, and I just want to thank the fans for all their messages. I always see the messages and the love from the fans.”