The Newcastle United midfielder revealed that he suffered after playing in the Euros with France.
The 27 year old explained to L’Equipe : “Depression? I am not afraid to say that. It was that,”.
“But I was reassured reading the books of Jonny Wilkinson and Rafael Nadal, who both talked about the same thing. They talked about post competition depression and the need to have a break.
“Euro 2012 was the first big international competition I had played. It is completely different than what you could experience in daily life with your club.
“I asked myself a lot of questions. As long as you didn’t experience it [depression] you cannot understand. But I was not worried.
“My injury allowed me to have some rest, meet my family and friends in Lille. When I was back in Newcastle in December I knew I felt better, but I never complained to anyone but my entourage.”