Louis Smith has revealed that he battled depression after winning his first Olympic medal in Beijing in 2008.
The 25-year-old, who ended his retirement earlier this year in order to compete in the Commonwealth Games, won bronze on the pommel horse in China, before picking up a silver and bronze in London four years later.
He told the Daily Mail: "I went from being an 18-year-old kid who could go out, get drunk, eat a kebab with his mates, go to a party and try and snog some girl, just a normal lad, and suddenly I went to the Olympic Games, got a medal, came home and your life has completely changed, exploded.
"I had responsibilities all of a sudden, I was a role model and I was freaking out. I didn't know what to do. I got really depressed with it. It got to the point where I was going to the gym, I'd do my work, come back and I wouldn't talk to anyone.
"It was a real shock and it was hard, very, very hard and very emotional. You're used to that old life and you kind of cling on to it. But you can't have it. That's the bit that starts breaking you down, trying to hold on to what you had before because this new life is a bit alien and you're not sure where to step. It was a really dark time."
Smith is part of a 13-man squad for England at the Glasgow event.
