Former Texas A&M QB Manziel Discloses Bipolar Diagnosis: Report

HOUSTON, TX — Former Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel quickly rose to stardom in the world of college football and crashed back to reality in the NFL just as fast, it seems. During an interview with ABC News Monday, Manziel disclosed he has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and that he's currently taking medication to counteract the effects.

"I am working to try to make sure I don’t fall back into any type of depression, because I know where that leads me and I know how slippery a slope that is for me," he told ABC News.

Manziel said his diagnosis was delivered in the summer of 2017 at a facility in California. Manziel said a partying and drinking lifestyle since his days at A&M were his ways to battle mental health issues that also included depression.

"You are left staring at the ceiling by yourself, and in that depression and back in that hole, that dark hole of sitting in a room by yourself, super depressed, thinking about all the mistakes you made in your life," he said in the interview. "What did that get me? Where did that get me except out of the NFL? Where did that get me? Disgraced?"

Despite winning the Heisman Trophy in a redshirt freshman campaign at A&M in 2012, Manziel often made headlines during his college days in Texas for his problems off the field. He left A&M after the 2013 season and was drafted in the first round by the Cleveland Browns in the 2014 NFL Draft. But after a less-than-spectacular stint in two years with even more bizarre behavior off the field, the Browns cut their ties with him in March of 2016.

"I had a sense of entitlement about what I had accomplished at the age," Manziel said.

The National Institute of Mental Health describes bipolar disorder as a condition that “causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks.” That can be both manic, which can make the patient anywhere from elated to irritable, or depressive, which results in feelings of sadness or hopelessness, according to the institute.

Medications typically used to treat the disorder are mood stabilizers, atypical antipsychotics and antidepressant, according to the institute. But Manziel opted for his "self-medicating" cycles, which ultimately led to his disappearance from football.

"For a while I got so ingrained, caring only about what Johnny wanted, only caring what mattered to me, what made me happy," he told ABC News. "When I look back at it now, even when I thought I was doing what I wanted, I was miserable."

Although kid from Kerrville, Texas has a contract offer from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League, he eventually hopes to return to the NFL.

"I am coming back from a huge downfall,” he told ABC News. “I don’t know what kind of comeback it will be, but I know I want to get back on a football field, to what brought me so much joy in my life."

Image: Former Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel sits with his fiancé Bre Tiesi during an NCAA college basketball game between Kentucky and Texas A&M Saturday, Feb. 10, 2018, in College Station, Texas. (AP Photo/Sam Craft)