“It’s been tough to deal with at times and it’s made me not want to be playing and competing at times throughout the year,†he said.
“It’s definitely a lot in the stomach – you feel sick to your stomach. I’ve been struggling to sleep and then, because of the feeling in the stomach, struggling to eat well, eat enough.
“It’s almost like a feeling of dread – that something bad is going to happen.”
He may allow himself an occasional social hit but will otherwise switch off from tennis until the spring.
Salisbury has plenty of plans in place, including a safari in Kenya, a skiing trip with his girlfriend’s family, and Christmas at home – which is not always possible for tennis players before a season which starts in Australia in early January.
The current world number 10 played the whole of this season with fellow Briton Neal Skupski, and even though they did not win a title, they were runners-up at six events including the French Open, the US Open and last week’s ATP Finals in Turin.
“I wouldn’t say it affected my tennis that much,” Salisbury said of his anxiety.
“We’ve played well, especially the past six months. I feel like I’ve dealt with it well and managed to get myself into a good enough state on court to perform well in most of the matches that I have played.
“But I think it’s taken an extra toll emotionally and mentally to do that. It’s meant that it’s just not been enjoyable being at a lot of the tournaments that I have played.
“I haven’t spoken to too many people about the struggles that I have had – mainly my team, friends and family, so not too many people in the tennis world.
“I think a lot of people don’t want to share too much because they don’t want other people to know about that, when you are having to go and compete against them.
“But to be honest I don’t really mind if people do know. I’m sure it’s something which a lot of other people are having to deal with and I don’t think it would have any impact on me, as if anything over the past year it’s made me mentally stronger than before.”
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