EXCLUSIVE 

Former Wallaby Drew Mitchell got to live his childhood dream playing the sport he loved, but the day his career ended he faced a new challenge: anxiety.

Mitchell earned 71 caps for Australia, played 112 Super Rugby matches across three clubs and starred in a further 82 games for Toulon in France. 

Now he has opened up to Daily Mail Australia about the extreme lows that followed his retirement, and how medicinal cannabis has helped him reclaim his life. 

It started in 2017 when Mitchell hung up the boots for the final time and started to feel the symptoms of anxiety manifesting at simple moments like meeting friends for dinner. 

‘Anxiety started presenting itself in social environments, I just got really anxious turning up to a restaurant, if my friends weren’t there already I didn’t want to walk into a restaurant first in case there wasn’t a table for me to go to,’ he said.

‘Little things that I normally wouldn’t have been worried about started to become issues to me.  

‘That started to present itself in anxiety and then from there it started to show in other parts of my life as well.

‘Then it wasn’t just social environments, it started to impact my day-to-day life.’

Mitchell lived out his childhood dream, playing Super Rugby, club rugby in France and getting to represent his country with the Wallabies

Mitchell lived out his childhood dream, playing Super Rugby, club rugby in France and getting to represent his country with the Wallabies

The footy star enjoyed a long and distinguished career in the sport before hanging up the boots in 2017 to take up new challenges

The footy star enjoyed a long and distinguished career in the sport before hanging up the boots in 2017 to take up new challenges

Mitchell has enjoyed time as a media personality on television, podcasts and more in retirement and always presented as engaging and funny

Mitchell has enjoyed time as a media personality on television, podcasts and more in retirement and always presented as engaging and funny  

Anxiety began to invade every corner of Mitchell’s life, including sleep, as he felt a debilitating sensation in his legs.

Known as restless leg syndrome, the incurable condition sees sufferers experience a very strong urge to move their legs when they would rather be still.  

‘Is that jelly leg sort of feeling. People talk about doing the kung fu in the bed sheets … there’s no calmness about it,’ he said.

‘I’m also an over thinking so sometimes my mind would be racing, so that impacts my sleep as I go to bed at night.

‘Exhausted as I am, I can’t seem to switch the mind off.

‘Other times it would make me physically ill if I’m going somewhere and the anxiety gets a bit too much I will have to excuse myself to go to the bathroom to be sick,’ he said.

One time in particular I had to pull the car over and I was having a big old cry. I just got overwhelmed by it all.’ 

‘At the severe end there’s been a couple of times where one time in particular I had to pull the car over and I was having a big old cry.

‘I just got overwhelmed by it all.’

Mitchell knew he needed change and has worked in a range of media and corporate roles since retirement while also enjoying speaking about sport on podcasts.

However, he admitted he lacked the direction, focus and discipline that came with professional rugby, which didn’t help his rising anxiety. 

‘When the anxiety presented itself, I think it was no coincidence that it was when I retired from footy,’ he said.

‘For a long time I had a purpose, I felt comfortable in my own environment, I had goals to go out and chase.

‘I knew what my next year looked like, five years, 10 years or whatever it was until I retired.

‘I am in this new space now where I had to find a new career, a new passion.

‘Finding a new passion when you have been literally able to live your dream the last 15 years is pretty difficult.

‘So anything that you kind of go into always feels like it pales in comparison in terms of how much you’re into it and how much it means to you.

‘That then brings a bit of doubt, am I going to find something that I am as excited about? As challenged with? All that type of stuff that I was with my rugby.’

Behind the smile, Mitchell was struggling with anxiety behind the scenes and went looking for medical intervention to assist

Behind the smile, Mitchell was struggling with anxiety behind the scenes and went looking for medical intervention to assist

Because Mitchell had been in a professional environment since he was a very young man, he found it challenging to adapt to life after footy

Because Mitchell had been in a professional environment since he was a very young man, he found it challenging to adapt to life after footy

So Mitchell sought out conventional medical intervention, which worked for a time.

He overcame the stigma attached with seeking help from a therapist and found a guiding light that he regards as his personal life coach.

‘I always thought in life you have a teacher and coach in everything, crawling, walking, ABCs, 123s, for me passing a footy as a junior, or whatever it might be.

‘But I never really had a teacher or coach for life other than my nearest and dearest.

‘But often the feedback I got from my nearest and dearest was always biased, it wasn’t as brutal as I needed it or perhaps they weren’t also equipped with the tools I needed to overcome whatever situations I was in.

‘To get over that initially I thought of my therapist as a bit of a life coach, that helped me get past that stigma attached with sitting on a couch and opening up.

‘That certainly helped to a point, but then, life is tough sometimes. Sometimes it gets on top of you.’

Mitchell found that pharmaceutical products like antidepressants were not the solution for him because they dulled his feelings of joy along with the anxiety

Mitchell found that pharmaceutical products like antidepressants were not the solution for him because they dulled his feelings of joy along with the anxiety

The former Wallabies star decided to seek out alternative treatment, partnering with Medibis to undergo a clinical trial of medicinal cannabis to treat his anxiety

The former Wallabies star decided to seek out alternative treatment, partnering with Medibis to undergo a clinical trial of medicinal cannabis to treat his anxiety

The next step was medication, but pharmaceutical products didn’t agree with the former Wallaby, who found the pills dulled his anxiety but also dimmed the moments that filled him with joy. 

That was when he explored the option of medicinal cannabis, which is being widely used to help treat a number of conditions like inflammation, insomnia, eating disorders and anxiety. 

So he partnered with leading Australian medicinal cannabis innovator Medibis as he sought an effective treatment for his anxiety.

‘I kept seeing medicinal cannabis come up, whether it be in the news, newspapers or on social media, whatever it might be,’ Mitchell said.

‘So I started to look into it a bit more and ending up meeting the team at Medibis.

‘That’s when I thought you know what, let’s just try the doctor consultation.

‘So I did my consultation, spoke about pretty much a lot of the things in a little bit more depth that we have spoken about now.

‘From there was prescribed with some CBD [cannabidiol] oils. I tried CBD before, but this doctor consultation was able to write up a script for a blend of CBD and THC [tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana].’

It was a big step for Mitchell, who had come from a life as a professional athlete and had never tried recreational marijuana before. 

Since taking on the treatment plan, Mitchell has reclaimed his life, is able to sleep better and is enjoying a range of positive impacts

Since taking on the treatment plan, Mitchell has reclaimed his life, is able to sleep better and is enjoying a range of positive impacts

What he found surprised him. The products did not produce a high like recreational cannabis, instead providing a natural sense of calm that enabled him to reclaim his life.

‘There were initially some reservations from me because there is also a stigma attached with marijuana,’ he said.

‘I had never partaken in it before. I just wanted to learn a bit more about it, then once they prescribed it, just understanding the correct dosage.

‘I only take it in oil form or the CBD in gummies.

‘It just felt like I had a bit more of a an immediate impact, it was much more of a calming sort of influence on me.

‘I was still able to feel those highs and those joys but it just felt like at times I wasn’t spiralling out of control as much I perhaps was previously.

‘I’ve had some really positive effects from it and I’m enjoying what it’s helping me with at the moment.’

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Post source: Daily mail

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