"I'd been in the squad a long time and I'll be honest, I was finding it hard going away with England. I didn't mind going away with United pre-season... but going with England, it was almost depressing in a way," Carrick told the BBC.
"It made me really down, so I came to the point after South Africa where I thought: 'I can't do that again.' People would be saying: 'Pull yourself together and be grateful for it' and I understood the position I was in... but I just found it so hard and I couldn't deal with it any more.
"I was probably on the verge of... yes, I was depressed at times, yes. I told the FA: 'Look, please don't pick me.'"
Carrick, who has won five Premier League titles, collected a Champions League winners' medal along with numerous other trophies in 12 years at United, and will retire at the end of the season before joining the club's coaching staff.
(Reporting by Aditi Prakash in Bengaluru)
