Stephen Bunting has opened up about his mental health struggles and revealed how working with a hypnotist helped him turn his career around.
The 38-year-old beat Michael van Gerwen 11-7 in the Masters final in Milton Keynes on Sunday to win his first televised PDC title. Bunting’s previous biggest career win came in 2014, when he won the BDO World Championship.
Shortly after that success, Bunting switched to the PDC Tour and initially threatened to make waves on this more high-profile tour. But a drop in form and confidence left him frustrated and considering giving up darts.
The Liverpudlian said he felt like a laughing stock and turned to a hypnotist and sports psychologist to overcome his inner demons. “I’m ready to leave,” he said. “It was so bad, I walked into the event and it felt like everyone was laughing at me.”
“I felt like no matter what I did, everything was going to go wrong. I took my anger out on my family and locked myself away,” he added. “I was depressed, it was a scary place.
“Thankfully, psychologists and hypnotists have helped over the past few years. I was against it at first, but I felt I needed to do something, [so] I went. He taught me not just to think about darts, but to think about other things besides darts, your family, your home life. “
“I know they say in Peter Pan you think of happy things and you can fly, but it’s the same logic in darts,” Bunting added. “If you show up and feel happy and good, you can win anything.”
Bunting reached the PDC World semi-finals in 2021 and the quarter-finals in 2023, facing Van Gerwen in the fourth round this year. The world number 16 got revenge on Sunday, defeating world champion Luke Humphries 10-7 before defeating Peter Wright 10-2 and Nathan Aspinall 11-1 Nathan Aspinall advanced to the finals with an average score of 102.50.
“The hypnotist helped me fall asleep,” Bunting explained after his win. “This is the most important thing for me, a one-hour session with a hypnotist is [like] Four hours of rapid eye movement sleep [of sleep] So it helps you focus, it helps you see all the positives instead of the negatives.
“Your brain is 95 percent negative, so we all have our brains on the negative side sometimes without even realizing it. I don’t think a lot of players are invested in that, so that extra 1 or 2 percent will It helps. As you can see, I’m the champion now, so I’m happy.”
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Bunting has waited a long time to get his hands on the trophy but says he would return it if it meant Jurgen Klopp could stay at his beloved Liverpool. “I may give up my trophies, but I won’t give back my title,” he quipped.
“I actually felt like I had lost a family member. I was in Ireland when I heard the news and I was devastated,” Bunting added. “I don’t think there is a manager in the world who can take his place.
“I’m going to the cup final and I’ve got tickets for the last game of the season so I’ll be able to pay tribute and see him off. It’s exciting for any Liverpool fan.”
