AFL champion Dayne Beams has lifted the lid on his debilitating drug and gambling problems for the first time in a bid to help others overcome their own addictions.
Speaking to Neroli Meadows’ podcast, Beams estimated he had lost close to $1m gambling and said he spent two years in the grips of addiction to prescription drugs.
Beams explained his downward spiral came after the death of his father, who lost his battle with cancer in 2018.
At the time, Beams was already making a name for himself as a modern legend of the game – he’d won a premiership at Collingwood and was captaining the Brisbane Lions on big money.
But Beams said as he processed his grief, he turned to gambling and prescription medication.
“Obviously, I was taking a lot of those drugs to not have to deal with what I needed to deal with,” he said.
“It became part of my routine that I’d take these drugs just so I could function. It wasn’t even about the feeling it gave me because that wears off over time.
“I tell people now openly how much I took and they’re like, ‘Holy sh*t. I have one of those and it puts me to sleep’.”
Beams said he would lie and manipulate others in order to get drugs but said he never stole money.
“You just find ways. You just find ways to get this stuff,” he said.
“You manipulate people. It’s what you do. You become a full-time manipulator.
“It just turns you into this sh*t person.”
At his lowest point, Beams said he took 24 oxycodone tablets in one hit. In another instance, he deliberately crashed his car.
“This is how bad it can get, real fast,” he said.
Beams said he began gambling at 16 and what began as a social activity eventually spun out of control.
Beams said he spent a significant xjmtzywportion of his rich Brisbane contract to fund his habit.
“I think it would’ve been if not close, it would have been over $1m that I’ve lost. A lot of money,” he said.
“That was probably the hardest thing to swallow. Now having kids, I could’ve set them up big time.
“Particularly when I went to Brisbane. I was earning some really good money and essentially I just pissed it up against the wall.
“I went to Brisbane on just under $800,000 a year and really don’t have much to show for it.”
These days, Beams lives “a simple life”, running his own business.
He said he had not taken drugs since checking himself into rehab for a third time after he crashed his car. He retired at the end of the 2020 season, saying he felt unsupported by Collingwood on his return to the club.
He continues to see an addiction specialist but feels “well and truly” on top of his addictions.
“Life’s always full of ups and downs but right in this specific moment of time, I’m doing really, really well,” he said.
“I don’t think too far ahead and I also try not to think too far back. I always try and remember and I learn from my mistakes, but I try and just live in the now.
“My daughter’s going to school next year. I feel like the first two years in her life, in particular, I was relatively emotionless. Since being off substance, you actually feel emotion again. It’s just good to feel that love and joy for your kids.”
Beams said he had turned his attention to helping others in similar situations.
“I’m a recovering addict who loves helping other people. Addiction is something that I knew nothing about until experiencing it myself,” he said.
“I was one of those people that would drive down Victoria St and look at all the heroin addicts and judge them.
“You don’t ever know what someone’s past is or what they’re going through at the time. It’s a really difficult thing to break.”
As for gambling, Beams said he had one message for those in the grips of addiction.
“Nothing you win is going to ever change your life, unless you win a million, $2m, which you’re not going to do,” he said.
“But if you stop gambling, it will change your life. You will live a better life.”
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