Two Stanley Cups, six Olympic medals, four World Series titles – incredible feats requiring both physical and mental strength, and yet, Olympic speed skater and cyclist Clara Hughes, hockey player Stéphane Richer, and baseball player Darryl Strawberry have all suffered from debilitating depression.

In the new CTV documentary “Darkness and Hope: Depression, Sports and Me,” TSN’s Michael Landsberg speaks frankly and candidly about the one thing all four of them have in common – dealing with and recovering from mental illness.

“I’ve found a sense of obligation since I began speaking about depression publicly,” says Landsberg. “I really look at it as my duty because of the nature of what I do. Not a lot of people are willing to talk about their own depression, or have the opportunity to like I have.”

“If I don’t make use of these platforms to tell my story when it could help them, then shame on me.”

Landsberg’s documentary airs Wednesday Feb. 8 at 7pm on CTV and is part of Bell’s Let’s Talk Day, a charitable program that promotes mental health through breaking down the stigma behind mental illness, increasing care and access, research, and promoting workplace best practices.

Though many public figures would shy away from discussing their personal struggles with mental illness, Landsberg says nothing about it is difficult to him.

“I spoke at ‘We Day’ and went out and said, ‘I’m going to say four words to you that you don’t normally hear – I suffer from depression. Now I’m going to say five more – I suffer from (a) mental illness.’ There were 18,000 kids there and I wasn’t the least bit hesitant or embarrassed or shy or concerned about what they might think.”

The culture of sport is known for its bravado and celebration of tough veneers, so to have these athletes speak as openly and candidly as they do makes “Darkness and Hope: Depression, Sports and Me” all the more powerful.

“Sports people define strength and the message we draw from the three athletes is that your mental strength has nothing to do with it,” says Landsberg. “I wanted the focus to be to turn icons into fallible people.”

In the documentary, Landsberg hopes to change the accepted formula of success equating happiness. “It’s a misconception that spreads out into so many different areas. If you have this belief that people who have good things happen to them should be happy, otherwise they’re not thankful or grateful.

“The number one stigma that forces people to retreat and keep their depression buried, forcing them to live in misery, and sometimes take their own lives is the feeling that the world believes that depression relates to weakness,” Landsberg says.

Richer was suicidal just days after winning a Stanley Cup, and Strawberry had four World Series rings and was self-medicating his depression with alcohol and drugs.

“And take Clara Hughes, who, in the sports world is thought of as perhaps the most mentally tough athlete in the world . . . She has the mental ability to do things that no one else can do, and she was still devastated by depression. So how can (depression) be about weakness?”

Landsberg is excited to be able to share his story, and the stories of these prominent athletes on CTV through Bell Let’s Talk Day. “I want to help people say, ‘I feel less lonely,’ or say, ‘I’m going for help,’ or be able to support and see their spouses differently,” he says.

“It’s the simple act of sharing that makes such an impact.”

“Darkness and Hope: Depression, Sports and Me” airs on Wednesday, February 8 at 7 pm ET on CTV.

About Lindsay Zier-Vogel

Lindsay Zier-Vogel has been working for CTV.ca since 2008. In addition to interviewing the famed American choreographer Bill T. Jones and Canadian prima ballerina Karen Kain, Lindsay’s highlights include criss-crossing Canada on four SYTYCDC audition tours and covering the Juno Awards. Follow her on Twitter!