23x Olympic Gold Medalist Michael Phelps Once Shared the Feeling ?Light Years Better Than Winning the Olympic Gold?

Michael Phelps, the swimming legend, got candid in an interview and opened up on his struggle with depression and the mental health issues that he went through. He had to go through a lot to regain his confidence and spirit. He shared his experience in an interview from 2018.

Michael Phelps is a name that needs no introduction when it comes to swimming. The former American swimmer is the most successful and decorated Olympian of all time with a staggering 28 medals. Phelps also holds the record for the highest number of Olympic gold medals with 23 medals in his name.

Michael Phelps opens up about going through depression

In the interview, Phelps discussed the struggles he endured while battling depression. He went ahead and admitted that he considered suicide. The Swimmer said that he suffered the worst after the 2012 Olympics. Although he won many medals at this Olympics, he felt extremely lonely and spent days at a time in the bathroom and barely slept. Phelps said, ?I didn?t want to be in the sport anymore. I didn?t want to be alive anymore.?

Surprisingly, the athlete even admitted that he had suicidal thoughts during this time. However, he is very happy that he did not take any wrong steps. He says, ?I am extremely thankful that I did not take my life. (Mental illness) has a stigma around it, and that?s something we still deal with every day.?

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He also talked about his 2014 DUI arrest. Reflecting on the incident, he said he isn’t happy about the things that he did while suffering from depression. He tries to avoid such instances now which remind him of those difficult days.

Phelps fights back

Thankfully, Phelps managed to completely recover and became much better in terms of his mental health in the following years. He married Nicole Johnson in 2016, after which his depressive thoughts completely vanished, and he became even better.

Looking forward to his post-retirement life, he is now working as a mental health advocate. He guides people suffering from depression on how they can fight as he did and come out of it. Given his own example, it makes an impact on the people and hence helps them to come out of depression real quick.

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