Michael Phelps Says Therapy ‘Saved’ Him During Darkest Moment: ‘I Didn’t Want to Be Alive’
He has won a total of 28 Olympic medals across five Olympic Games. He has won more gold medals at a single Olympics than any other athlete – breaking Mark Spitz’s 36-year record when he won eight gold medals in Beijing in 2008. According to the International Olympic Committee, Michael Phelps is not only the most decorated athlete in the history of the Summer Games, but “undoubtedly one of the greatest Olympians of all time.” And in 2014, he wanted to end his life.
Always one to keep physically fit, Michael Phelps now acutely knows the value of mental health, after severe struggles with depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts.
He was diagnosed with ADHD in 6th grade. He and his family discovered that while he had great difficulty sitting still in the classroom, he could train for hours in the pool. In Phelps’ book No Limits: The Will to Succeed, he explains, “I could go fast in the pool, it turned out, because it slowed down my mind. In the water, I felt, for the first time, in control.” He credits ADHD as one of the factors that helped launch him to swimming greatness.
But ADHD, anxiety, and depression are linked. And like many elite athletes who experience profound depression and anxiety when the Olympics are over, after the 2012 London games Phelps spiraled downwards. After his second DUI arrest in 2014 – his first a decade earlier, in 2004 – he hit an all-time low. “I found myself in a very dark spot,” Phelps recounted to PEOPLE magazine. “It was the lowest point I have been to so far – I felt like I didn’t want to be alive.”
He made a life-changing decision, checking himself into a treatment center. “Therapy saved my life,” he admits bluntly. Afterward, he continued to see a therapist because he saw how much “it helped me feel comfortable in my own skin, to be my own authentic self.”
Years later, Phelps has become an ambassador for Talkspace, which offers therapy and online mental health services. As a mental health advocate, he candidly shares his story to destigmatize mental health issues and encourage others to seek help. He speaks publicly on a regular basis, during Mental Health Awareness Month in May, and throughout the year. And he is applying what he has learned in helping raise three young sons with his wife Nicole Johnson: “To be able to talk about what you’re feeling prevents you from carrying that weight through life. I want my boys to be as prepared as they can be for whatever comes.”
Pfeffer, Stephanie Emma. “Michael Phelps Says Therapy ‘Saved’ Him During His Darkest Moment: ‘I Didn’t Want to Be Alive.” PEOPLE, 3 May 2022, https://people.com/health/michael-phelps-says-therapy-saved-him-in-darkest-moment/.
Photo by Agência Brasil Fotografias at Wikimedia Commons