Mitchell Johnson Admits That Cricket Helped In Hiding His Depression

Former Australian speedster Mitchell Johnson is amongst the many cricketers, who has battled depression during and after his playing days. In the recent past, several prominent or renowned cricketers have confessed their problems with depression and went on a sabbatical to take care of themselves. Mitchell Johnson revealed that he used cricket as a means to escape it.

Mitchell Johnson was one of the most fearsome fast bowlers produced by Australia and wrecked several batting line-ups for fun. The 38-year old picked up 313 Test and 239 ODI wickets in an eight-year international career. The left-arm speedster was part of the 2015 and 2007 World Cup squads when Australia lifted the title. In 73 Tests, Johnson’s career highlight remains the 2013-14 Ashes when he snared 37 scalps across five Tests.

Mitchell Johnson highlighted that he struggled with confidence at times and revealed he is in a transition currently, having been out of professional cricket for two years. He found it challenging plenty of times in his career and identified it as depression, which was present since he was young.

“I struggle with confidence at times, I just think I’m in that transition now where I’ve been out of playing cricket for about two years. I’ve found it hard plenty of times, I found out I’ve got depression, but I think the depression was something I’ve had even from a younger age,” Johnson told Channel 7.

“You have your moments where you struggle” : Mitchell Johnson

The Queensland paceman stated that cricket blocked things, concealing the depression. However, there were moments when he went back to his hotel room, away from family, and began dwelling on things. It is only now that Mitchell Johnson has decided to stay active with certain things and keep his mind going constructively. Johnson also played in the Indian Premier League for Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata Knight Riders, and Mumbai Indians.

“Cricket sort of blocked things out in a way, it sort of hid the depression, but there’s a lot of times (in your career) where you go back to your room, you’re away from family and you start dwell on things. Through my cricket career I actually just dealt with it (depression), it’s just about me now actually moving forward and taking it upon myself to be active with certain things, to keep my mind going,” he added.

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