Former Athlete Shares How Years-Long Addiction Struggle Inspired His Mental Health Advocacy (Exclusive)

JB Copeland Credit: Courtesy JB Copeland; Jenny Lawson NEED TO KNOW JB Copeland shares how concussions ended his football career and led to struggles with addiction and mental health He sought help in 2022, spending 60 days in rehab, which he says transformed his life and perspective Copeland now uses his platform to advocate for mental health and encourage men to express their emotions In honor of May's Mental Health Awareness Month, athlete-turned-content creator JB Copeland is opening up to PEOPLE about overcoming a 10-year-old struggle with addiction and mental health. Copeland — a 31-year-old from Dallas, Texas — spent the majority of his life committed to football. He worked his way up through high school and landed a scholarship playing at the University of North Carolina.

But in 2016, during his junior year, back-to-back concussions forced him to retire from the sport he loved. “I just felt like a shell of a human,” he says. “My whole identity was wrapped up in football so when that ended, it just felt like, what do I do now?

” “I had issues with not feeling good enough for myself and for my coaches and teammates. And it felt like I was a bit worthless now that I could not give my talents or my performance,” he continues. “I just felt out of place and I felt really sad.

A mix of a lot of emotions that I wasn't sure how to deal with, which is kind of what took me downhill. ” JB Copeland at UNC Credit: Courtesy JB Copeland When his football career ended, Copeland — who had already been drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana since high school — amped up his substance use and even started abusing other drugs. He was prescribed Xanax for anxiety after his concussions.