Ben Stokes battling mental health issues reveals he takes anxiety medications

Stokes took a break from cricket to focus on his mental health after suffering several panic attacks last year.

The 31-year-old’s father, Gaid, died of brain cancer two years ago and Stokes opted out of his game for six months as he struggled to recover from the loss.

“I never thought I’d be on medication to help me with stuff like that. I’m not ashamed or embarrassed to say that because I needed help at the time,” Stokes said in a statement. amazon documentariesWhich will release on Friday.

“But it’s not done just because I’m playing back. I still talk to the doctor, not regularly, and I’m still taking medication every day. It’s an ongoing process.”

Since being appointed England’s red-ball captain earlier this year, Stokes and new Test coach Brendon McCullum have overseen their team’s impressive revival.

Read also: England all-rounder Ben Stokes announces retirement from ODI cricket

But Stokes still finds it difficult to cope with the relentless schedule of international cricket.

In July, the World Cup winner announced that he would retire from One Day Internationals due to the “sustainable” demands of playing in all three formats.

Keen to advance the debate about mental health, Stokes allowed himself to be filmed for the documentary, even when he was at his lowest.

“I think sometimes people get a little nervous to go into detail about things like that with me. It’s believed that you can’t feel a certain way, it’s a sign of weakness that You are not feeling well mentally,” he said. told The Telegraph.

“People think they can’t ask people who have struggled. No. That’s fine. I’ll happily tell you as much as I can.”

Stokes said that at the time of his father’s death he resented the England cricket hierarchy and wondered whether he was “playing for the wrong people” as he had not met them as much as he wanted during his cancer battle.

“I had a real thing with cricket when I took a break. I was really angry at the game because it was deciding when I could see my father,” Stokes said.

Stokes will be in action for England in the second Test against South Africa at Old Trafford on Thursday, with the hosts going 1-0 down in the three-match series.

This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed. Only the title has been changed.

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