“It made me hate cricket” – Ben Stokes Opens Up Again On His Mental Health Struggles

Ben Stokes is currently busy playing the home Test series against South Africa. However, England lost the first match of the series. Speaking about Stokes, in July, he announced his retirement from the ODI format for England. Now, he opened up about his mental health struggles in a recent interview. 

Ben Stokes shared some incidents from that break that he took from the game last year to focus on his mental health. He was suffering from a series of panic attacks following the loss of his father to brain cancer almost two years ago. Stokes also said that once, he started to hate the game of cricket.

“But it made me hate cricket, I thought it was the reason I didn’t see my dad before he died.” – Ben Stokes

Speaking in an interview with the Telegraph, Stokes said that he was busy playing in the Indian T20 League while his father passed away. He left New Zealand after seeing his father for the last time as he really wanted Stokes to play in that tournament. 

Stokes said: “The last time I saw Dad was leaving New Zealand to go to the Indian Premier League – that was dictated by cricket. He wanted me to go, he really loved me playing for Rajasthan Royals and the people there. But it made me hate cricket, I thought it was the reason I didn’t see my dad before he died. I should have opened up about it sooner – I just thought ‘cricket, cricket, cricket. It’s not a regret … but I’d do things differently. So I had a real thing with cricket at the time I took a break. I was really angry at the sport because it was dictating when I could see my dad,”

Stokes also added that he is still on medication. He also emphasized the importance of good mental health. He said: “I find sometimes people are a bit nervous to go into the detail about that kind of stuff with me. It’s perceived you can’t feel a certain way. That’s a sign of weakness to show that you are not mentally feeling great. People think they can’t ask people who have struggled. No. It’s fine. I’ll happily tell you as much as I possibly can.”

“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. But it’s not done just because I’m back playing. I still speak to the doc, but not as regularly, and I’m still taking medication every day. It’s an ongoing process.” Stokes said in an Amazon Documentary. However, it will release on 26 August 2022.