He also tells how he used Ice (crystal meth) during times when the demons were about, quite a revelation I guess for goodie 2 shoes middle Australia but certainly not exactly out of the ordinary around eastern Sydney. I mean I got involved in it during some incredibly bad times, and although you know the dangers you don't think about it. You just kid yourself that you're only using it "casually", which for me meant probably a couple of weekends a month. That's a couple of weekends. Start Friday after work, spending the time at the friends house and not eating or sleeping until a bit on Sunday night before work on Mon. We were all injecting of course (fuck that place went through some fits). If backing up the next weekend, I'd only really just come down from the previous weekend by Friday, and then off again. Yeah, "casual use"....
It never got much more than that though, simply because of the money, ice is expensive. I guess if you've got stacks of money it may be easier to get right out of control with it. Needless to say once the use goes up to a out of control level, everything turns to shit. Some people seem to be able to use the stuff for years and not have any major problems, but others can just go off the edge straight off the bat. It doesn't destroy everyone's life, but it massively fucks up a lot of people's.
So anyway, Mitcham relates as to why he was smoking it, and it all sounds very familiar to me:
Self-doubt came crashing back, fuelled by injury. Secretly smoking crystal meth to boost his moods, he was soon in the grip of addiction.
He knew the drug's dangers. But ''taking it was something I did … to take my mind off things that were upsetting me - to make me feel better about myself.'' Read moreExactly. I understand completely where he was coming from with that. I'd go round to this friends place and just tell him straight out that I wanted to have a break from the train wreck crashing everywhere around me. Looking back I don't regret those weekends being off the planet, it wasn't good no and I'd not recommend it, I'm sure there's better ways to deal with depression and anxiety, however that was just where I was at back then and if I could have two or three days when there'd be no problems and feeling wonderful I'd take the opportunity. I'd be lying if I said those weekends didn't help me get through some of those times when the demons wouldn't leave me alone. They were gone for a whole weekend.
People reading this who've not been around drugs likely would be aghast, and I assume the media will go bananas about Mitchem and the ice thing, but I can honestly understand the reasons he had for doing that.
And who would have thought, Matthew Mitchem, Olympic super diver, would suffer from depression? Not to mention all the rest. This too not long after Ian Thorpe (Olympic super swimmer) wrote in his book about his own struggles with depression. Both of them are to be commended for being so honest and forthright about their lives. How many people will be helped by their stories? These are the sorts of people who are true Olympic role models.
*Update:
Found this about his dive in Beijing that one him gold. Is the most perfect dive ever, has never been beaten.
(Oh, just noticed, it has to be watched on YouTube, just click the "watch on YouTube" when it says to)
This comment on 60 minutes was interesting too:
MATTHEW: I had so much shame for the depression I felt as a teenager, because I felt like I had no reason to be depressed. And there was a whole sports macho mentality about that as well, like I didn’t - I saw it as a weakness, and if I had’ve known what I know now, like, I could have saved myself all that pain.more
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