"I was contemplating giving the game up" - Luke Humphries recalls anxiety struggles almost ending his career and how seeking professional help made him darts dominant force

The world champion, world number one and dominant force in darts at the moment, Luke Humphries has had plenty of reason to celebrate over the last twelve months. It hasn't always been such easy going for 'Cool Hand Luke' however.

The most recent of the now five major ranking titles currently held by Humphries, came in Blackpool at the 2024 World Matchplay, where the Englishman prevailed in a fabulous final against Michael van Gerwen. "You could tell by my reaction to it, that it meant a lot," Humphries recalls in conversation with the MODUS Super Series' official YouTube channel. "Doing that and the World Championships in the same year is phenomenal. It's something in my wildest dreams I never thought I'd achieve. To join that exclusive club with Peter Wright, Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen, and the way I played as well with five 100+ averages, I think I deserved it."

So far in 2024, as mentioned, Humphries has taken the World Matchplay and the World Darts Championship. Also in the trophy cabinet however, is the World Cup of Darts and the German Darts Grand Prix, plus Humphries was the losing finalist at both the UK Open and the Premier League Darts this year. Despite his immense success however, Humphries has continued to fly somewhat under the radar as Luke Littler takes the majority of the headlines.

"The media attention that come for Luke after the World Championship was just so much for him, that I think he's just enjoying it, enjoying being around the celebrities and fair play to him!" Humphries says of his rival. "If I was 17 I'd have been doing the same. I wouldn't have been doing any different than to what he has. The difference to me is, I'm 29 now. Being around celebrities isn't something I care about. I care more about achieving things in darts and obviously I'm a family man, I've got kids and a fiancée, so I have a different lifestyle than what he (Littler ed.) lives."

Despite their on the board rivalry however, Littler and Humphries are good friends away from the oche and Humphries continues to look out for the teenage sensation. "Sometimes the fans get on his back a little bit. He just needs time to adjust to what his life entails now," the world number one explains to MODUS. "But yeah, for me, it's just about winning trophies as much as I can. The buzz I get from winning major tournaments... there's nothing that can make me feel any better!"

Whilst Humphries first really announced himself on the darting scene at the 2019 and 2020 World Darts Championships, reaching the quarter-finals of both events at the Alexandra Palace, the Englishman is a barely recognisable figure now. Having undergone a big weight loss, in the years since his first breakthrough and him taking the next step in the second half of 2023, Humphries went through a rollercoaster few years, where both his physical and mental health enjoyed ups and downs.

"Still to this day, it's one of the greatest feelings of my career," Humphries recalls of knocking out reigning world champion Rob Cross in 2019. "It was my first proper World Championships as a professional and I never expected to beat him but I did and it give me this massive success at such an early age. It wasn't at the levels of what it would be now, but I had a lot of media attention from that and that's when I think the anxiety creeped in."

"I let it all get to my head thinking I've got to do this, I've got to do that and it started to throw me into this panic spiral. That's when it all started for me," he recalls honestly. "The year after, I was getting it every day. I remember playing many games where I was 5-2, 5-3 up and the panic of just wanting to win so desperately came over me, my heart started pounding and I just couldn't wait to get off stage."

These struggles turned so serious for Humphries that he even contemplated calling an early end to his darting career. "I sat there and I thought, can I be a professional dart player anymore? Can I do this? I was contemplating giving the game up," he admits. "I'm certainly glad I didn't!"

Key to Humphries' revival was the fact he sought out help from mental health experts. Despite the stigma that still surrounds men's mental health, Humphries is a walking, talking example of the fact that seeking help works and is nothing to ashamed or embarrassed about. "I worked my way through it. I got some help with CBT - Cognitive Behaviour Therapy - and that was the key to me getting over it and realising that I didn't have to put this pressure on myself and I'm in a much healthier place now both physically and mentally. It's definitely helped me and got me to this stage of my career."

"The potential has always been there for me, I think everyone has seen that from when I was mopping up titles on the Development Tour. I just sat back and thought to myself, 'I have to change something otherwise I do give up the game because I can't carry on like this,'" Humphries remembers of the turning point in his battle with mental health. "It was really important that I got that help. Then we got to the Covid situation and I thought: 'this is the time to lose weight' because if I didn't, I would have put more on. I worked incredibly hard, harder than I've ever worked and to match them together and beat them both in the space of 12 months, that's probably the biggest achievement of my life! You know, I've won a world title but beating them both, getting myself in a really good physical and mental state, that is the best win of my career that is for sure."

"Every time I go to an event now, I'm really looking forward to it and everyone knows I love darts to bits so yeah, I'm in a really good headspace at the moment," he adds with a smile.