England’s Ben Stokes reveals ongoing mental health battle and ‘anger’ at cricket sacrifices
- Test captain says he is still on anxiety medication and is happy to discuss it
- Stokes admits resentment towards cricket after his commitments left him unable to visit his dying father as much as he would have liked
England test captain Ben Stokes kept the dialogue on mental health going as the all-rounder revealed he was still on anxiety medication after returning from a six-month break to focus on his well-being.
The 31-year-old took a rest from the sport last year to focus on his mental health as he was suffering from a series of panic attacks following the loss of his father to brain cancer almost two years ago.
He announced in July he would retire from one-day cricket, citing the “unsustainable” rigour of playing all three formats of the game.
“I never thought I would be on medication to help me for that kind of stuff. I am not embarrassed or ashamed to say it because I needed the help at the time,” Stokes said in an Amazon documentary, which will be released on Friday.
“But it’s not done just because I’m back playing. I still speak to the doc, not as regularly, and I’m still taking medication every day. It’s an ongoing process.”