Former AFL superstar Dayne Beams has shared his confronting drug and gambling addictions that prematurely ended his career.

The Collingwood midfielder shocked the AFL in the middle of the 2019 season when he announced he was taking indefinite leave to battle depression.

Beams, 31, was also battling a gambling and prescription drug addiction and didn't take to the footy field again before announcing his retirement a year later.

He opened up about his time in rehab to deal with his addictions ahead of his upcoming appearance on Big Brother VIP.

The father-of-two recently shared a handwritten three page letter to gambling and opioids, as if they were people, that he wrote during his rehab stint.

'I don't even know where to start with you.

Yes, I made the choice to abuse both of you, but you both let me and controlled me and I won't have it anymore, you can get f**ked,' the letter begins.

'I won't let you drain my accounts anymore and won't let you put me in a position of owing people money.
I will no longer let you control and dictate my mood.'

Beams poured his heart out about his feelings towards his addictions, admitting they took away his pain and struggles before coming to the realisation they created more problems and anguish in his life.

He declared it was the end of the road in his addictions and he never wanted to see another script for painkillers.

'Nor do I want to see an online bookmaker offering me a great deal knowing they will take my money,' Beams wrote.

'This is the end of the road for our relationship.

I actually hate you and how you have made me feel and the pain you cause me now.

'I'm not sad about leaving you because you are both pieces of s**t.

'Yes, you make me angry but you know what? You also make me happy as I never want to see you again.'

Beams ends the letter declaring his addictions would not define him as a person.

'I will have the last laugh and I will have plenty of laughs in my new life without you,' he wrote.

The final page of the letter was dedicated to a list of goals he wanted to achieve out of his rehab stint.

They included rediscovering himself, focusing on the important things in life and to not spend so much time on his phone.

'Overall I just want my life back and not have to worry and focus on when I'm going to get my next prescription,' he wrote.

'I don't want to tell anymore lies to those I love.

I want to be a trustworthy person again.' 

Beams said he was initially reluctant to share the letter on Instagram but changed his mind in the hope of helping someone else trying to overcome their demons.

'I found this to be a really powerful thing,' he captioned the post. 

'This was a real fork in the road moment for me.

There has been ups and downs since but holy f**k looking back on this sort stuff is firstly hard to read as I was in a really low point in life but it's also very encouraging that what I put down I'm now LIVING. 

'The most important thing to me in life is trust and that can only be built through IMO honesty and your actions .

I hope this can help someone out there doing it tough.'

The premiership star played 110 games for Collingwood, including their 2010 grand final win, before requesting a trade to the Brisbane Lions at the end of the 2014 season to be closer to his gravely ill father.

He played 59 games in his four seasons with the Lions before returning to Collingwood, where he played his final nine games. 

Beams battled with mental health issues and addiction following the death of his father Philip, https://vietsubtv8.com/ who lost a prolonged battle with bowel cancer in February 2018.

He previously spoke about his 'complete breakdown' during his last season with the Lions in the months after his father's death.

'I struggled with two things, gambling and the prescription painkillers,' he told The Herald Sun's Sacked podcast a year ago after his retirement.

'It ends up controlling your life, it really does and then as a result of that, your mental health deteriorates.' 

'[Brisbane] put in a bit of a plan about what was going to happen but to be honest whatever plan they put in place was not going to work.

'Because that's when I started engaging in some really addictive behaviours to try to deal with the pain I was feeling.

'That's when things started to go really downhill.

At that stage I was caught up in some stupid things and wasn't actually feeling anything.

'I thought this is great, this is helping me, but it wasn't. It was the worst thing I would have done because it caused a lot of pain.'

Beams appears in the upcoming season of Big Brother VIP, which premiers on Channel Seven on November 1.

If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636