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Olympic legend gives powerful insight into her own mental health struggles

Home> Other

Published 02:45 10 Oct 2022 GMT+1

Olympic legend gives powerful insight into her own mental health struggles

The interview itself makes for inspiring viewing with one of Australia's greatest ever athletes being brave enough to come forward.

Max Sherry

Max Sherry

Cate Campbell has bravely opened up about her mental health battles, shedding light on her 'breakdown' during the build-up to the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The Aussie swimming legend was the flag-bearer for her nation and went on to win two gold medals in the pool.

But while she'll be remembered for her flawless efforts in guiding Australia to victory, Campbell's preparation for the Games was hampered by issues going on elsewhere.

Physically, she was in the best condition of her life, but mentally Campbell was struggling.

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"Sadly for me, it went down a lot further than it needed to," she told Nine's Today show.

"I had a complete emotional breakdown because the power in my house tripped. I was sobbing and crying on the floor and I was like, 'Hang on, this is not a normal reaction to the power tripping, there is something going on here'.

"It took me getting to that point... pushing myself to my absolute breaking point before I decided to seek help or support.

"I let it get to a point where life was almost unmanageable for me before I was willing to seek that help."

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Alamy

Campbell has since become an advocate for mental health, encouraging others to speak up when they're struggling.

But, as she learned herself, voicing ones own issues can be tricky at times – so much so that Campbell was forced to start medication just four weeks before the Olympics.

"For a really long time I was like many people battling and suffering in silence really because I was so eaten up by this shame," she said.

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"I felt like it was a personal failing on my part that I couldn't think my way out of a mental health problem, or injury, as I like to call it.

"I've never been ashamed to talk about my physical injuries. I've been very open about the fact that I need lots of physiotherapy, lots of massages, that I frequently go to sports doctors, I often need really intensive anti-inflammatory medication which I go to a chemist and have to hand over a script for.

"However, when I have to go and hand over my script for my anti-anxiety and depression medication, I still feel that sense of shame that, oh my goodness, there's something deficient in me that I'm having to ask for this as a little bit of extra help, and that just shouldn't be the case.

Alamy

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"We should be able to talk about struggles that we are having with our mental health in the same normal way that we talk about going to physio to get our physical health treated.

"It reached a point where I realised I wasn't coping, things had spun out of control and I needed to seek help, but I wasn't willing to share that with other people, I wasn't willing to normalise it.

"Now that I have started speaking about it, I have realised that it is normal and that so many people are struggling in some way."

The interview itself made for powerful viewing with one of Australia's greatest ever athletes being brave enough to come forward with her story.

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Inspiring stuff.

Featured Image Credit: Alamy/Ch9

Topics: Australia, Swimming, Olympics

Max Sherry
Max Sherry

Max Sherry is a journalist for SPORTbible Australia. After migrating Down Under from London as a teenager, he instantly fell in love with Aussie sport and its culture. From NRL to AFL, cricket to rugby — you name it, Max watches it (with a beer in hand, of course). During his time at Fox Sports, he worked in the football department covering the Premier League, A-League, Socceroos and Matildas. Born a stone's throw away from West Ham's training ground, Max is obviously a die-hard Liverpool fan.

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@maxysherry

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