MAFS Sam Ball opens up about his depression following the show
On June 10, Sam Ball took to Instagram to share his struggle with mental health. “Severe depression, anxiety, feelings of loneliness, panic attacks, thoughts of suicide you name it and I have felt it,” Sam wrote.
WHO caught up with the MAFS star who says he’s getting his life back on track. “I’ve done it really hard since leaving school. I’ve worked away as a FIFO and it sort of stems from that,” Sam tells WHO. “Once the show happened and all the poor choices on my form... Everything came crumbling down.”
Luckily for Sam, he had his family – who live in Byron Bay – to lean on. “I was invited to Cam and Jules’ engagement, but I didn’t go because I went home for a bit. My family got into my head and said, ‘You need to see someone.’ ” Sam says the hardest part was asking for help. “There was a time that I didn’t feel like a man… It was a bit embarrassing,” he reveals. “I was having days I couldn’t get up and train. I’ve never been in that position where I literally couldn’t function – I just couldn’t figure out how.” At that point, he sought help from a doctor, who prescribed medication. “I needed something to get me functioning again.”
Now, Sam says he’s back working and exercising every day, and admits he’s been offered influencer endorsements “non-stop”. “The amount of things, like WeDate, teeth whitening, everything, I’ve got offered it all – I won’t do one of them. I don’t need free stuff. I’d just rather help people.”
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