Escaping depression: Michael Phelps says up to 75 per cent of US Olympians may suffer mental health problems
The 23-time gold medallist has gone through his own struggles and is ready to lend a helping hand to those with similar post-career problems
Olympic superstar Michael Phelps revealed on Friday he was a firm believer in the positive impact digital media is having in helping professional athletes escape the often suffocating bubble they can find themselves trapped in.
“The platform athletes have today is so powerful to talk about things that are meaningful,” said Phelps. “Yes we’re athletes but we’re normal people too. We’re human.”
The record 23-time Olympic gold medallist has only recently revealed his own struggles with depression – which led the American to contemplate suicide after the 2012 London Games. Phelps has blamed his troubles on the isolation felt by many of the world’s sport stars and he has since offered advice to the likes of golfing great Tiger Woods on how to cope.
“I would say on the American side, 70 to 75 per cent of Olympians who come out go through some kind of depression,” said Phelps. “You build over four years to get there and then you’re twiddling your thumbs. You don’t know what to do. So to be in the position to talk to these people is huge. More people are coming out and talking about it and it is real. We’re all human. We all go through daily struggles.
“There are lot of things we can do as athletes and together as human beings to be able to help people to just get up and talk about the struggles they have. For me talking about it changed my life.”
Phelps said there were people he could have talked to during his darkest days. But he chose not to.
“I chose to be big and macho and deal with it myself,” said Phelps. “And obviously I struggled with that and it led me to not the greatest places in the world. But I was able to bounce back learn more about me and learn that it’s OK to not be OK. I can open up now and I can ask questions and that’s something I never felt before.”
