Michael Phelps Contemplated Suicide After DUI
Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps says he contemplated suicide after he received his second DUI in 2014.
Phelps was stopped in September 2014 in Baltimore after driving almost 40 miles above the posted speed limit of 45. He also post a .014 on a blood-alcohol and failed multiple field sobriety tests.
He was sentenced to 18 months of supervised probation after pleading guilty to the DUI charge.
“I didn’t want to be alive,” Phelps said to USA Today. “I didn’t want to see anyone else. I didn’t want to see another day.”
Phelps said he locked himself in a bedroom for four days before friends and family urged him to get help.
Phelps' story was included in a piece about other athletes that have struggled with mental health issues.
"Once I started talking about my struggles outside the pool, the healthier I felt,” Phelps said. “Now I have kids and adults come up to me and say they were able to open up because I was open about my life. Isolation can be crippling. When I’d see my therapist, I remember beforehand how much I hated going. Then every time after I’d walk out the door, I felt like a million bucks.”
Phelps retired after the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio as the most decorated Olympian of all–time, winning 28 medals, including 23 golds.
