I would dwell on the past, worry about the future says Ryan Sidebottom on his life post-retirement

Mental health problems have been a big issue in the world of sports. Cricket has also witnessed this in the past as some of the players took a break from international cricket to prioritize their mental health. Ben Stokes and Glenn Maxwell are some of the examples who preferred their mental health over the game and stayed away from the sport for a few months. 

While some players face mental health issues in their career while others face these issues post-retirement. Former England cricketer Ryan Sidebottom has opened up on his mental health problems post-retirement saying that he used to dwell in the past and worry about the future.

"I had days where there was massive self-sabotage. I would dwell on the past, worry about the future. I'd worry about my children, money. How am I going to pay the mortgage? How am I going to house my wife, my children? What's my next step in life? And I'd have days where I would just be angry, agitated. That would have been in the morning and then in the afternoon I'd be really emotional and I wouldn't know why," Sidebottom told the BBC.

Sidebottom retired from international cricket in 2010 and bid farewell to all formats in 2017. He shared that his wife and friends helped him go through those days as they provided him support and he used to share things with them. 

"I'd be frustrated with my wife, frustrated internally, and I'd have lots of horrible feelings. I wasn't sleeping very well because of every negative thought about the past, the future. They've really struggled mentally and it's nice that I can speak about it and put it out there and say, 'look, it's OK not to be OK,” he stated.

“Talking really, really helps. I've been very fortunate to have my wife and some very close friends who have really helped me through those dark days and those horrible feelings, just to talk things through and get it off my chest.”