Merrick Watts talks candidly about his battle with anxiety and depression on SAS Australia

Merrick Watts spoke candidly about his battle with anxiety and depression on Monday’s episode of SAS Australia.

The 46-year-old comedian revealed his confidence took a hit after losing his radio career ‘about three years ago’.

‘For 20 years, I worked in radio, and I was phenomenally successful. I had a number one radio program, getting massive ratings, earning a lot of money. It was a really, really good time. And it ended,’ he reflected.  

‘You do something like radio for 20 years nonstop. You get used to a certain way of doing things, and then when you’re out of it for a little while, it’s exciting and then it’s kind of cool and it’s a release.

‘But then all of a sudden, there was a period where I just didn’t have a lot of work. There was a moment there where I just went, “What’s next for me? Who am I? What am I going to do?”

‘I lost my self-confidence and I lost my strength and myself. That slowly started to manifest into anxiety and depression.’

He added: ‘It starts as a seed. These things don’t just become a tree. One thing becomes another becomes another becomes another. And if you let it grow too big, it’s too hard to chop down.’ 

Merrick confessed that his struggle with anxiety and depression was what prompted him to sign up for the show.

‘I’m doing this course to completely change myself from what I was. Everybody knows me as just a happy-go-lucky kind of guy…’ he explained.

‘But I haven’t felt that way for a while. And I want to feel that way again.’

He said he decided to ‘address’ his issues ‘rather than waiting to see if this goes bad’, and confessed SAS Australia was exactly what he needed.

After later being pulled into interrogation, Merrick confessed he was trying to ‘rebuild’ himself.

‘I just got to a point before this came along where I lost some of my confidence, and for a comedian and for a performer, that is a big part of what I do and my identity,’ he admitted. 

He added: ‘I didn’t really… I didn’t see it or it wasn’t an event. I just started finding myself sleeping more, staying in late. I was lethargic and tired, and unmotivated and not committed to s**t because I didn’t feel 100 per cent.

‘And I don’t know why. I honestly don’t know where that happened or what that was… If I do something like this, I believe that I’ll be better to go back [to comedy] and put this same effort into it.’ 

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