Scott Morrison opens up to Seven News Spotlight on the 'perfect storm' and 'malicious' campaign that took a heavy toll on his mental health while he was Prime Minister

Scott Morrison has opened up on the 'bitter, malicious and untrue' campaign that took a heavy toll on his mental health while prime minister.

The former PM said that the major issues of the day, such as the pandemic, China's aggression in the Indo-Pacific or the massive public backlash in the wake of the devastating 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires, did not trouble him in the same way as the personal attacks on his character.

It all started after winning the 2019 federal election, which he declared at the time as a 'miracle.'

Until recently, very few people knew of the private internal hell he was going through, apart from his wife Jenny and some close friends.

'There was a relentless, personal, bitter, malicious, untrue campaign that was being waged against my character from the day I won the 2019 election,' Morrison told Seven News Spotlight.

'I got the very clear sense that after winning that election, the one I wasn't supposed to have won, the one that seemed to offend quite a lot of sensibilities around the place and from that day on, until the next, it was on.

'No one around me had any idea that this was going on.

'It wasn't impacting on my performance.' 

Mr Morrison, 55, told Channel Seven's political editor Mark Riley that the personal attacks had such an impact that his doctor eventually prescribed anti-anxiety medication.

'It really helped and that was good, so I'd encourage people in those situations, particularly blokes - that's not weak, it's smart,' Mr Morrison said. 

'Don't struggle with it on your own. It's there. Reach out.'

Mr Morrison also opened up on why he called out 'bullying' China over the coronavirus pandemic.

He insists it was worth it, despite a whopping $22b cost on Australia through trade bans.

'It was consistent with a whole range things we'd done in standing up to China,' he said.

'During the during the (Barack) Obama years- it's not necessarily a criticism of the Obama administration but China surged ahead into the South China Sea.

'No one did anything.

They will go as far as far as you let them go.

'Unless you says 'Stop', they will keep coming 

'We stood up to them. They backed down.

'They sought a different relationship with the new government. Good!'

Mr Morrison urged the Anthony Albanese government to be wary of China.

'By all means, go and make what money you can in China,' he said.

'But understand that they can turn it off.

'They can threaten to turn it off and they can threaten your government to change its policies.'

The devout Christian also spoke of the important role God has in his life. 

'I see that God is with me every day,' Mr Morrison said.

When asked what God's plan for him now, Mr Morrison replied: 'To love me.

'That's the best way I can answer it.'

Mr Morrison first revealed his secret mental health battle in his new book Plans for Your Good: A Prime Minister's Testimony of God's Faithfulness. 

He said most of his time in The Lodge was 'debilitating and agonising', and that without anxiety medication he would have spiralled into a deep depression.

'My doctor was amazed I had lasted as long as I had before seeking help,' Mr Morrison wrote in his book.

'Without this help, serious depression would have manifested. What impacted me was the combination of pure physical exhaustion with the unrelenting and callous brutality of politics and media attacks.'

Mr Morrison said that while that was all part of the job as a public figure, 'politicians were not made of stone'.

'You dread the future and you can't get out of bed. It can shut you down mentally and physically. It robs you of your joy and can damage relationships. I know this from personal experience,' he wrote.

However, Morrison insisted his mental health troubles did not impact his performance in the job. 

Mr Morrison was Australia's 30th prime minister from 2018 to 2022 before he lost to Anthony Albanese at the 2022 election.

He was replaced by Liberal candidate Simon Kennedy as the federal MP for Cook in Sydney's south at the recent by-election.

Mr Morrison retired from politics in February this year and went on to become the strategic adviser to DYNE Maritime, an Australian-founded, US-based venture capital company that invests in technologies related to the AUKUS pact.

He is also the vice chair of American Global Strategies, which was co-founded and chaired by Robert O'Brien who was National Security Advisor to US President Donald Trump from 2019 – 2021.