SAS Australia: Former cricketer Mitchell Johnson shares depression battle
Legendary Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has opened up about his battle with depression, saying there was a time after his retirement that he really struggled.
Confidential
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Retiring from cricket has forced Mitchell Johnson to confront his demons.
Admitting he suffers from depression for the first time, Johnson said his mental health suffered dramatically after he stepped down from the sport.
“I found out I have got depression but I think the depression was something I have had even from a younger age,” Johnson said on SAS Australia.
“Cricket sort of blocked things out in a way, it sort of hid the depression but there was a lot of times where you go back to your room, you are away from family and you start to dwell on things. Through my cricket career I actually just dealt with it. It is just about me now actually moving forward and taking it upon myself to be active with certain things to keep my mind going.”
Johnson, 38, retired from cricket in 2018 and has continued to work in the sport as a commentator.
The fearsome left-armed fast bowler is one of the contestants on controversial reality show, where celebrities are put through their paces in a gruelling Special Forces course.
“I struggle with probably confidence at times and just think I am in that transition now where I have been out of cricket now for about two years,” he told SAS Chief Instructor Ant Middleton.
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It was in 2011 that Johnson struggled most with his cricket. Two years later, he made a return to the Australian team and decimated his British opponents in the Ashes in what is regarded a signature moment of his career.
“I just got to the point where I wasn’t enjoying myself,” he said. “I wasn’t enjoying being a professional cricketer and I guess being looked at and judged all of the time. I just took everything personally. I was physically exhausted and I was mentally exhausted as well.”
Johnson, 38, said taking part in the reality show was an opportunity to see “what sort of person I really am” and revealed that he nearly joined the army when he finished school.
“Cricket for me, I got really lucky with that so I went down that path,” he explained, adding more generally of the scrutiny he felt as a professional athlete: “In cricket, you have to perform, you are in the limelight. I’ve copped a fair bit of abuse over time with crowds but I just had to block that out and focus to keep positive and it seemed to work. I have found it tough since retiring from cricket. All of a sudden you are not doing as much. You sort of lose your purpose a little bit. That is what I am trying to find, things to push myself.”