Dan Palmer

Former Wallaby comes out

The 32-year-old wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald of the anguish of "living the dream" as an elite athlete while being trapped in a "false narrative".

"I was incredibly frustrated, angry and desperately sad. I despised myself and the life I was living," wrote Palmer, a former vice-captain of Super Rugby side ACT Brumbies.

"Most nights, I cried myself to sleep and routinely numbed myself with a heavy cocktail of opioids.