Former Premier League defender Clarke Carlisle said yesterday that he felt “no shame” about his recent suicide attempt.

The 35-year-old said he was “incredibly unwell” when he tried to take his own life in December but he now had a “very different perspective” on life.

Speaking at the Oval Cricket Ground in London, at the launch of a project to tackle mental health discrimination in sport, Carlisle said: “People are very delicate stepping around it — there’s no shame invested in it for me.

“I tried to commit suicide because I was incredibly unwell, but it’s changed my life.

“It’s changed my life because I got incredible support — initially from Leeds General Hospital to keep me alive and then from the Cygnet Hospital in Harrogate to not only nurture me mentally but to give me new tools and new skills.

“I stand here today with a very different perspective of what it means to be alive in this world.

“There’s a great expectation that once you come out of a psychiatric hospital you’re cured — you’re not cured. You just have more tools, a greater awareness of self and a greater understanding of how to manage your illness and that’s exactly where I’m at.

“I’m managing my illness on a daily basis and I can tell you today I’m very well.”

Carlisle was hit by a 12-ton lorry on the A64 near York in December.

The former Burnley and Leeds player was at the Oval for the launch of a charter committed to tackling the stigma surrounding mental illness.

The Mental Health Charter for Sport and Recreation aims to “blow the whistle” on mental health discrimination in sport, the Cabinet Office said.

The Football Association, the Rugby Football Union, the Lawn Tennis Association and the England and Wales Cricket Board are among the governing bodies in sport to sign up to the scheme.

The charter, which comes after it was announced an extra £1.25 billion will be spent on mental health services over the next five years, will also encourage more people to take up sport to help with their mental and physical health.

Paul Farmer, chief executive of mental health charity Mind, said: “From the elite level down to grass roots — sport can be used to reduce stigma and encourage positive conversation about mental health, which is why we’re delighted to back the Sport and Recreational Alliance sport and mental health charter.

“Sport brings people together. The benefits of physical activity for mental health and wellbeing are well known, and sport has been used to support people with mental health problems for some time.”