Michael Phelps, the 41 year old winner of 28 Olympic medals, made the country proud with his stellar performance in the Olympics pools. As billions around the world watched him perform in awe, his mental health spoke a different story. With 23 Olympic old medals in his name, Michael Phelps opened up about how he did not want to live anymore.
Michael Pehlps on his worsening mental health even as he continues to win Olympic gold medals for the country
A few months ago, at a mental health conference, Michael Phelps opened up about how his mental health and personal life painted a pretty grim picture of his life even as he continuously won medals for the country in the Olympics.Michael Phelps said, “I didn’t want to be in the sport anymore … I didn’t want to be alive anymore. You do contemplate suicide…”The 41 year old added, “I was always hungry, hungry, and I wanted more…I wanted to push myself really to see what my max was.”
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The winner of 28 Olympic medals added, “Really, after every Olympics I think I fell into a major state of depression…”
When did Michael Phelps realise he needed help with his mental health?
Though Michael Phelps struggled with his deteriorating mental health since the beginning of his career, things became worse during the 2012 Olympics.Despite his poor mental health, Michael Phelps refused to give up as he won 4 gold medals and 2 silver medals at the 2012 London Olympic Games.However, at one point, the star swimmer realised that he needed professional help with his worsening mental health.Michael Pehlps opens up about the professional help he took as he said, “I remember going to treatment my very first day, I was shaking, shaking because I was nervous about the change that was coming up…I needed to figure out what was going on.”The winner of 28 Olympic medals added, “I was very good at compartmentalizing things and stuffing things away that I didn’t want to talk about, I didn’t want to deal with, I didn’t want to bring up – I just never ever wanted to see those things,” said Phelps.Michael Pehlps continued, “Those moments and those feelings and those emotions for me are light years better than winning the Olympic gold medal…I am extremely thankful that I did not take my life.”Despite all the painful experiences he has had, Michael Pehlps has created history with his performance.A decade ago, in 2016, the star swimmer Michael Pehlps came out of his retirement to win another 5 more gold medals at the 2016 Rio Games.Today, Michael Phelps remains an inspiration for billions across the world as he never gave up even when things became incredibly tough for him.
