Campbell Johnstone describes his internal struggle with anxiety while concealing his identity, and the decision process he faced: either give up rugby or begin telling people. He chose to continue playing and to tell people, starting with his parents—whom he told first out of respect and because he viewed them as a safe, supportive space.
I enjoyed this sport so much and I loved it so much and all my teammates were so good that there was no question that I was ever, ever going to give this sport up. And so I pretty much sat down, had a think, thought and thought, well, you know, I've got to do something because, you know this anxiety and everything is building and it's, it's not healthy. There's two things. One is to stop playing rugby or two is to start telling people. And as I said, there was no way in hell I was going to stop playing rugby. So it was time to tell people. And I told my parents for the first people I told just out of, just out of pure respect. And for me, you know, they just, my family meant so much to me and that, and I knew that, you know, they, yeah, I think it was a safe zone as well. I knew that they wouldn't have a problem.
