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Professional surfer Private Smith he is open about his past mental health issues Instagram post celebrating his 30th birthday.
“Oh man… 30 years and what a trip this life is! No one told me that life as an opportunity gets better every year. Gradually, the rules of the game are revealed day by day,” the athlete wrote on Friday, January 3. “The magic grows stronger, the colors brighter, the purpose refined, the love that surrounds me grows. My connection to life only deepens. I’m so grateful.”
Smith, 30, went on to explain that he “occasionally” closes his eyes and returns to “visit a version of myself that was struggling.”
“Shocked, depressed, suicidal, heartbroken,” he continued in the touching post, which also featured numerous photos of the surfer riding big waves, spending time with friends and enjoying the beach. “I put my hand on his heart and said it was all worth it! Just wait, it’s all worth it!”
He concluded, “Thank you all! Let the abundance flow and the light shine bright!”
In an interview from March 2022 with The IndependentSmith has opened up about the catastrophic injury he suffered while surfing in Indonesia, which resulted in the surfer having mental health issues.
“I heard this crazy, super peaceful violin,” he told the publication at the time, referring to the moment he crashed while trying to ride a wave. “I had one of those moments where I was over the whole bay looking down. I saw my friends in the lineup. I saw ships in the bay. I could see the mountains. Then I suddenly realized that I was actually under water.’
He continued: “I felt that I might be leaving my body. The strange thing was that it was a very comfortable, very loving, euphoric state. There was no fear. It was like being at home.”
Celebrities like Matthew Perry, Chrissy Teigen and others are open about using ketamine infusion therapy to treat mental disorders. According to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), ketamine is “a dissociative anesthetic agent that has certain hallucinogenic effects” and “can induce sedation, immobility, pain relief, and amnesia.” That (…)
The somewhat euphoric feeling was short-lived – when the surfer regained consciousness, he could not remember his name or address. As a result of the crash, Smith said he suffered a severe concussion and later realized “something broke” inside him.
“I couldn’t even function anymore,” he explained at the time. “I had to spend 10 hours a day in my bed in the dark just kind of figuring out what I wanted to do.”
After struggling with his mental health despite seeing doctors, Smith said The Independent decided to try psilocybin mushrooms as part of his “healing process”.
“It brought me back to my childhood, that fire in me as a child,” he explained. “It reminded me that I am a good person and that I am here to do good in this world. It reminded me to use my head injury as a guide to healing.”
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, there is help available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.
