A Deep Dive into the Mental Health of a Wiltse 

I am proud of you for being real about your struggles with mental health! Authenticity like this is the actual definition of strength and toughness. Not hiding behind the illusion of being "okay."

Andrew, I don’t know if you read these comments or not, but I am an Adult Psychiatry provider (I am writing under my husband’s account for this). My husband had mentioned your case to me some time ago. He is a BJJ black belt. If you need additional help, I am more than happy to see you. I understand the jiu Jitsu world far more than most shrinks, and we are also in Illinois so not too far from you. I do virtual visits if that helps with distance. I truly hope you are doing better. It takes incredible strength-not weakness-to battle your own brain and reach out for expert help.

Love your content Andrew, your authenticity and humility are so refreshing to see in the world of BJJ.

dude you are the last person I expected to hear this stuff from. You are my favorite sports person from all sports. You inspire me and our whole team (rhodes, Greece) hugely. Your instructionals are not gold, they are platinum. Stay strong you are unique. Feel free to come around for holidays any time drop me a message

At 43, It's inspiring to hear someone you look up to be so transparent about these topics that so many of us deal with on some level. 🙏

Thanks for opening up Andrew. My dad was severe bipolar to the extent of hallucinating for days not knowing what happened and ending up in jail or a psych ward. I have severe depression and anxiety and have a family to raise along with these mental issues.

I was also diagnosed bipolar, depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Andrew I see your pets that's what's helped me, you can make your dog your service dog for free. Emotional Support Animal is free to register. May your journey be blessed with happiness and longevity.

Hey, big fan, also a nurse with psych experience. Want to try to give fair warning about a couple things. Please be careful with dosages. If you are bipolar, Adderall is not always a good mix with the manic phases. Certainly use it if it helps you, but high dose Adderall and bipolar often go together like peanut butter and genocide. Adderall will help a little bit forever. It's a brand name for amphetamine/dextroamphetamine mix. When everyone first gets on it it feels like a complete life revolution. I mean so does meth, which is very similar. It will help as long as you take it but you will never again have that feeling of complete clarity that you do in the first month or two, tolerance will build fast, and you will never experience it at its absolute best again. It's very tempting to go up in dosage to try to recapture that initial feeling, and it's a bad idea so I hope you resist it. I'm writing this just hoping you will be able to mentally prepare yourself for this stage to go away. Eventually I'd say you feel about 30% of the positive effects that you feel now, which is a huge improvement over nothing at all, but also nothing like you're feeling right now. Best of luck, I hope I'll have stuff from you to follow for a long time to come. I wish I could clone you and put you in the instructor position at every BJJ gym, the attitude even more than the skills.

My Son recommended your video to me - what a joy and a pleasure to see & hear someone so genuine, authentic, and a positive force in this world. It was a true pleasure listening to you. You also have a wonderful sense of humour, which comes from your authenticity. I will be watching for more of your videos. Thank you !!

Love this Andrew. Thanks for being so open with subjects like this.

Heavy stuff man, really glad to see your doing better. Your a huge inspiration to a lot of people out there.

Thank you for being so generous. I needed this.

Thank you so much for sharing, you’re appreciated so much. Genuinely I relate to this so much.

I was a fan before, but this is something else. Thank you. I need to bite the bullet and finally get tested for ADHD. The school thought I had it as a kid, but my parents didn't want me tested. I'm drawing a lot of parallels here - everything down to absolutely needing the routine or else everything else goes to shit. Once the routine goes it's like being stuck in a tornado or falling and you can't grab onto anything to get back to calm everything down. I'm also incredibly self destructive and impulsive, even though I try my absolute hardest not to be. So thanks for this mate. We all appreciate you being so honest and open. I'm pretty sure my ADHD contributed towards cutting my combat sports career short. But I'm a coach now and do my utmost to use my experience to help others. Sorry mate, over sharing a bit. Another symptom. I'll go to get examined soon I think. Thank you.

Love your honesty and passion!

So glad you are doing better and appreciate your honesty

Hey man this is really important what you're doing. Much love and support.

videos like these are so important for the community you are in and really courageous to speak on it too! Thank you

The older I get the more I realise that most people are struggling with something or other. Awesome to see you being so open and making progress in the right direction Andrew.

Thank you for being so open.

Great to see you doing well. Great rant. Will be great to see you roll again. One of my favorite people that I have never met.

I did not find this depressing at all. Thank you so much for sharing your story. Im so happy to hear you found something that helps you. Love you Andrew!! ❤

Thanks for all you do! This video hit hard.

Thank you for sharing your story. i can relate to alot of what youre saying and i really do appreciate it.

Andrew you are absolutely an inspiration. You articulate very well and explain things very effectively. This content is valued and appreciated. I can relate with unhealthy thoughts and patterns of behavior and it's a vicious cycle when it turns into self sabotage and it's a hard struggle to deal with. It sucks I've been through it myself. In time we get better at recognizing and managing those things that get the best of us. You're still so young so it's only up from here for what you can do for yourself and others. I know you weren't looking for comments or anything but out of the kindness of my heart I had to say thank you for sharing and I look forward to watching you and the Daisey fresh team getting better and winning in life.

Honestly, great of you to upload this!

The way you articulated this was perfect. Bravo 👏. Very well done. Yes same person.

Thank you for your openness. I am sure this will help many.

Loved it. Thank you for being open and sharing.

You're a stand up guy, Andrew. It's great that you use your platform to talk about things that are truly important, and a lot more than just armbars and chokes. I'm sorry it took this long, but I'm glad that you're feeling clearer and healthier. You deserve that, and thanks for being open and sharing your life. I know you know it helps people, but I promise it will surely help even more than you realize! Much love!

Respect brother for being so open. You’re a real role model

I’ve never related to a video more. Thank you for opening up, you are helping people a lot!

Appreciate the honest, transparent talk. This is super helpful for other people struggling with similar issues.

Thank you for talking about REAL shit that you are and have experienced with your mental health. My son is bi polar and we are dealing with that and maybe this video will help him get to where he needs to be with his mental health. Thank you

glad to have you back Andrew. Hope we get to see more of Riddle too sometime soon

Hands down my favorite jiu-jitsu player in the game right now. Not just because the man is an absolute wizard but just down to earth and keeps it real. Thanks for sharing this bro it gives us someone to relate to.

I suffer from a lot of the same issues and am so happy to hear Professor Wiltse talking about this stuff. Makes me feel better and not alone. Thank you Andrew! ❤

Good person Andrew, you can definitely see a calmness in you. I always got the nervous energy in your previous videos - pressure of expectation being on your shoulders in what you do in BJJ can't help either.

I love you g! You’re not alone! Stay up ⬆️

Hopefully this message finds you. Thank you for sharing and putting yourself out there. Most people struggle with things in life and most people are un-Diagnose with mental health issues. One day at a time and for most 1 hour at a time. Keep up the good work..

Andrew, you are truly a treasure. Your brother as well. Being bipolar myself, I can really relate to this. Thanks for being so open about this.

Started to watch your "podcasts". Hope to see you fighting more, wish a nice recovery! You vs Mica will be lit!

Really appreciate your sharing Andrew. We're the same age and a lot of what you talked about resonated with me, it was scarily similar to my own experience with addiction, anxiety and depression. I'm glad you found something that worked for you, man. I hope to do so soon as well.

Love that you're willing to talk about this. My wife is a therapist, and she is fascinated by the unique mental health obstacles that high-level athletes (especially in combat sports) have to face in order to remain at the peak of their game. We're both glad that you're getting the help you need, and that you're able to show others that they don't have to struggle alone and that there is help available for everyone. Thank you for providing us with this insight, and I hope that your difficulties are lessened as you continue with treatment.

This might be the most important thing I have heard in my life. Thank you.

Love the honesty brother stray true to you do whats best for you As im someone that has mental health issues hearing your honesty about it is welcoming Oss

My jiu jitsu coach Pat king brought me here, thank you so much for being so open with this topic. I was diagnosed as bipolar about 8 months ago and it doesn’t feel right. They recommend that I get tested for ADHD. Misdiagnosis is common so I’m glad you got the answers you needed. Best of luck!

Man, thank you for your honesty! This IS important for so many people. You're a great example of a human being, not only a great grappler.

You said some things that I related to so hard and that I've never been able to connect with other people on. Its helping me make sense of some things

I wish you well Andrew on your health and career goals

Hey Andrew, I appreciate your candid breakdowns and how it relates to jiu jitsu. Wrestle ups are also badass. Thank You 💯

Thank you for sharing and help spreading the word on mental health, I truly appreciate your content.

Thank you for this Andrew. This helped me go and get a diagnosis and I finally know what I have. ADHD and diagnosed at 30. In the process of getting treatment, much appreciated that you shared your story and insights with us!

God bless you guys. You guys are champions and inspire me to train!!!

The more I watch you, the bigger fan I become. You’re the real deal, not just as a jits player, but as a human being. Much respect, brother.

Dude. I needed to hear this. You're an inspiration man. So much of what you've said is something that directly relates to my life and how I am. The part about the clarity and introspection you used to have as a kid and now it's gone is something I've been thinking about lately. Like I feel I used to be smarter and more Intune with myself as a 12 year old kid in the midst of trauma at home than I am now at 31. The longer I stay away from the club the harder it is to get back, knowing people are passing me by and getting better while I sit at home eating shit food getting fat and feeling less like I deserve to have a purple belt on my waist. Hyper focusing on things that are interesting to me and ignoring pretty much the rest of the world, fixating on things that aren't good for me because they give me crazy amounts of stimulation. Being all or nothing with so many things in my life such as diet, intermittent fasting, substance use, exercising etc. And that as soon as I make one exception and slip up once on something it all just falls away like it was never important to me in the first place. Didn't get diagnosed with ADHD and generalized anxiety until about 2 years ago , the stigma and the lack of understanding can be real, especially when it comes to medication. Truly appreciate you putting this content out there. Hell even the parallel of you being in Mt. Vernon and me being in Vernon BC. Thanks again man. Ps. Reading is one of the big things I credit for developing me into who I am as well. It got me through some tough fuckin times.

Absolutely spot on. Everything you described going through. I will add, it's good to have supportive people around you. My wife has gotten adept at spotting when I swing between the peaks and cliffs. When I hit the bottom and can barely crawl out of bed, and when I hit manic phase and I own every room I walk into. She's always there to reel me back in, whether it's battling inner demons or over committing myself. Many good points here. Thank you for sharing.

Many of us have struggles with mental health. Some of us know about it and some of us stuff it down. It’s cathartic to hear about your experience. I’m infinitely glad you are who you are and that you’re involved in the jiu jitsu world.

Thank you for sharing Andrew

I like that you bring up this topic

Your relationship advice you dropped from Nicole was readily applicable and immensely useful, thr maintaining contact and i feel statements. Also the visualization as muscle memory . Love to hear more of your mental insights, oth competitive and personal thanks

You sir, are a good man for sharing this 🙏

Great conversation and sharing. Sounds like you're on a destined path. Keep on keeping on!

I found out I had ADHD around the same time you put this video out and I relate to some of this so much its like we're the same person. I'd get caught in a bad position in a roll and if I didn't get out fast enough I'd watch escape tutorials for like 10 hours straight. You're not alone brother!

Andrew - You are a bright, articulate guy and you've accomplished a lot in your life. You're awesome!

Andrew you are a truly special person. Challenging would be a complete understatement to describe your life. But this stuff you are doing is no doubt making this world a better place, particularly in the BJJ community. Keep being you brother, oss!

Really important stuff here Andrew. It's surprising how similar your internal thoughts were to mine during these breaks or episodes. Just goes to show you when you think you're alone others are going through the exact same thing. Isolation, obsession, anxiety, self loathing, self harm, etc. You articulated these thoughts in a much better fashion than I've ever been able to. Rigid routine, exercising and microdosing saved my life.. still saving it to this day.

Very courageous of you. Again your actions speak very loud. Stay balanced and healthy

As someone who finds it hard to relate with some people who struggle with mental health (I've been in a relationship with someone who has struggled with it for years) I found this very insightful. I think the difficulty to relate came from being in a very stable household and being rather mediocre as a child/teenager. As I grew older, I felt like I had a decent foundation so when I learned what genuine mental toughness is and how to acquire it, I felt much better off. Hearing you go from one extreme to another helped me understand another perspective. Thank you for this video, I listened front to back :)

Thanks for sharing, related to lots of what you talked about

God bless you brother. I think a lot of young men these days can relate to you, I certainly can. It’s a consequence of the fallen world we live in, through hard work, vigilance and God’s grace, we will overcome these problems.

Hey Andrew, This is a very important topic that gets ignored way too often. You talking about this brings awareness to it. BJJ is therapeutic but it's certainly not therapy. People should not confuse the two and ignore the importance of (whether medical or psychological) therapy. Thank you for being so honest and up front about it. You're the man, bro!

Thank you for sharing. I hope to meet you one day I learn a lot from you and it helps me get through a lot of my own struggles so again, thank you sir! OSS!

I’m in the same boat man, I have bipolar type 1. Had a manic episode recently at my gym but my coach and team were really supportive and got me the help I needed. Now I’m taking vraylar and feel way better. Everything you said I can relate to, glad your so open about it. Bjj really helps me too mentally, even if at times I have to force myself to get out the house. Thanks brother for posting this video, you’re a huge inspiration to me.

This is real shit, hyper focused on sometimes the wrong stuff, and being in a fog. The constant urge to pound caffeine. A know a lot of people who feel this way, and it's really interesting the night and day difference medication had for you. Thanks for talking about it.

I train and have Generalised Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder and have had Agoraphobia. A lot of what you've said is very relatable.

Dude, I gotta say, watching this video has given me so much peace. I thought I was just a lazy ass with no drive. I have always been the guy who obsesses over shit and gets really good at it but then I lose the drive or passion to keep going. Then I have anxiety that I’m not doing it anymore. And on the visualization topic, I had to take 2 months off recently (been training a year casually) but I was obsessively thinking about different moves and when I got back, aside from the cardio being shit, I felt like I was sharper than before. It gives me confidence hearing a little bit of your story because I can identify with a lot of the struggles you speak about. Thanks for the content brother. Stay aware, and more importantly, stay fuckin beautiful. 💪🫶

The wizard. I haven’t listened yet but your the man. Keep that in mind whenever you doubt yourself. If you never win another comp you will still be one of a lot of peoples fav athletes in BJJ. Don’t let competition get your life fucked up. Your mental health is most important. Your set with making a living off bjj as long as you stay mentally and physically healthy. Your exemplary of the American Dream. No bs. Stay strong and grateful young warrior.

Wow, this is legit Andrew. Thanks for sharing, the fact that you dealt with it all those years prior to taking the medication says a lot about the strength of your character dude.

One of the greatest mental health videos. Ever! And the kicker is that not one idiot has come on to make a stupid comment. That shows the message and they way its delivered resonates with people. And it takes a lot to hold peoples attention for over an hour with just the spoken word. Again this a reflection of both content and delivery. If this was TED talk it would probably go viral. Amazing.

Love this, thanks for sharing. I got diagnosed with ADHD and PTSD, at 15. Bjj has been a huge factor in forming relationships with people, for me, just as much as the physical outlet. Without bjj I'd probably still have trust issues. Thank you for sharing your story ae, you're an inspiring fella.

I am damn proud of you, and I am happy you are still here, man. Seriously.

“Once you conquer the mind, you can conquer anything.”

Happy to hear you found the help you needed . Everyone has issues people deal with them in different ways . Trying to ignore them or self medication is not the way . Thats whay most people do and they don't have to balls to let anyone know what problems they have and deal with . Putting the problems in the lime light may help someone . Thanks for being able to come out and say it . Everyone's issues are different but no one is normal they just hide it . Showing weakness or a problem can also be a strength. The problems you have and overcame can in power you . Or the can cripple you . You can't live in your head . Often we are our own worst critic and we blow things out of proportion being able to put stuff in context is a big deal . Like a kid scared to get a shot the anxiety is 100x times worse than the shot but they are in their head hurting them self way worse than the shot . Way to overcome your demons

Your content is fantastic! Your candor is INSPIRING! 15:07 Worldview shifts, values change. I was gonna say priorities, but values are what generate our priorities.

Thanks for sharing Andrew.

I like hearing about this Andrew, I was diagnosed with adhd as a kid when my mom had custody of me and then my father got me and I never knew I had been diagnosed with it till 25 years later.. and it really explains a lot about my life. I go through bouts of depression or lethargy.. very little got done (lots of video games). Then I’ll have times where I stop gaming and I’ll do a whole bunch of stuff all at once. I also get super impulsive with spending or management of my time.. when I was younger and was bodybuilding my diet was super strict and it actually helped with my adhd cause I always had a focus.

Thanks for sharing this and being so open Andrew! It's rare we get this sort of insight in general, but especially from professional athletes.

Great video. You are adding a needed psychological conversation to the BJJ and sports performance world. Most humans are not willing to speak this openly about their mental hurdles.

Appreciate your honesty and transparency. Struggling and being tested in life is what makes us human.

Thanks man. Thanks so much for this.

Loving the channel! It's good to see some hi level dudes keeping it real!

Dang you just made me realize I'm just like you . Heavy . Thanks for putting it into words brother.

Yo, i'm making an appointment to address my mental health because of you. Alot of what you speak about regarding ADHD resonates heavily with me. I also have a gaming addiction that contributes to my crippling anxiety. I also struggle with doing the most mundane thing if it has any number of steps involved regardless of how easy they are to actually do. Thank you for this.

Andrew Is the guy the more you watch him you the more you love him

Man, this is deep. Thanks for sharing.

We love you Andrew. Keep being true.

Hey Andrew, I just wanted to say that I feel your story. We have some common ground. You seem like an exceptional person. I hope you continue to apply kaizen to your mental health, and find success. Also, Riddle is the best! I hope one day to own a border collie too!

This kinda shit is so inspirational for people also struggling with mental health, thanks for the motivation bro.

I don't do BJJ but my SO does. He told me about Daisy Fresh and I thought he was joking about you guys living in the gym etc. We watched the documentary, episode 2 and your couples counseling with Bird together - hilarious! This came up in my recommended so I decided to listen - I love your honesty and hearing people's life stories and learning from them. I didn't find it depressing at all. It helped me understand mental health better. I will have to listen again. You have a beautiful and brilliant mind!