After he was charged with a DUI in 2014, Phelps soon found himself in a spiraling state of depression, the darkest place he’d ever been. At this point, he locked himself in his room for several days and even faced serious thoughts of committing suicide. “I questioned whether I wanted to be alive anymore,” he said at an onstage event with Talkspace (a leading mental health app that connects people to online therapists). “I realized that I’m the strongest person I know, but at that moment I was the weakest.” After family members and loved ones urged him to get help, Phelps decided to enroll himself in The Meadows, an addiction and trauma treatment center in Arizona. There he learned that, in addition to his diagnosis with ADHD, he had also been living with anxiety and depression his whole life. At that point, he knew he had to make a change. RELATED: Celebrities Who Have Experienced Depression After winning his last gold medal in the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics, he decided it was time to focus on his mental health. He teamed up with Talkspace in an effort to spread mental health awareness — particularly to the younger generation. And research shows they need it. In Everyday Health’s United States of Stress Report, Generation Z (people born 1995 or later) clocked in as the most stressed generation of our time. Why? In our tight and competitive economy, where jobs are scarce and education is at an all-time high, the constant feeling of needing to be the best — a self-induced pressure Phelps is certainly familiar with — has caused young people to feel extraordinarily anxious, overworked, and even socially isolated. To spotlight the issue, we sat down with Phelps to discuss his own strategies for fighting off stress, even on those extra down days. RELATED: The Best Anxiety Blogs to Read When You Just Can’t Deal Anymore
How Michael Phelps Handles Stress and Pressure
For Phelps, it’s simpler than you might think. His favorite stress-fighting tactic is one that he and his wife, Nicole Johnson, teach their son, Boomer Phelps. It’s called “lion breaths.” Whenever Boomer gets upset, his parents tell him to take a lion breath. At that point, Boomer inhales as deeply as if he were trying to suck all the oxygen out of the universe, then lets out the breath in one extravagant exhale. But Boomer isn’t the only Phelps who uses lion breaths. “There are times when I struggle with identity because for so many people, all they see me as is a swimmer,” he says of the passing judgments he receives. “Honestly, that’s when a lion breath does come into play.” But how can something so simple — say, simple enough to work on a two-year-old — have such an effect on an Olympic medal–winning adult? It’s partially the push-to-the-limit environment Phelps grew up in, similar to that of Generation Z. “Because my life was always go, go, go, go, on to the next thing,” he says, “I never had a chance to take a breath. So I don’t really know how to do it, I guess.” In fact, Phelps had learned a practice called “diaphragmatic breathing” — a type of exercise involving deep inhalation and exhalation. This breathing method was found to be successful not just in stress-relief, but also in commanding sustained focus in adults, according to a study published in June 2017 in the journal Frontiers in Psychology. RELATED: How to Avoid an Emotional Meltdown, and What to Do if It Happens Anyway
Other Ways Michael Phelps Combats Stress
Identifying His Emotions When upset or anxious, Phelps first asks himself why he feels the way he does. After he recognizes this, he’ll take a lion breath. “Those two little things are something, for me personally, that just helps me relax and take a step back and think about everything,” he said onstage with Talkspace. “In the past, I would always just react. And it’s not healthy.” Saying a Positive Affirmation Before Entering a Room It’s a way to help him change his mindset, like a personal pep talk to serve up confidence. Hitting the Gym “To be as healthy as I can be mentally, I know some things have to happen throughout the day,” Phelps said onstage. “For me, workout is so important. If I don’t, I’m a nightmare, an absolute nightmare.” And when he gets stressed, his daily routine is even more essential. He gave an example of his experience at an airport when he heard whispering comments around him. “I got off the plane and could not wait to get to the hotel,” he said. “All I wanted to do was work out. As soon as I worked out, I was able to kind of relax a little bit.” Ignoring the Haters For many years, Phelps struggled with identity. “I think the biggest thing is trying to get to that point where you get comfortable with who you are, and it’s hard. It took me 30 years,” he said onstage. But now he’s learned to compartmentalize the expectations of others and the expectations he has from himself. He doesn’t read aggressive comments on social media; he doesn’t interact. “I am who I am. Sorry if you don’t like it.” Asking for Help Coming from an übercompetitive sports background, Phelps always felt the need to stave off weakness. “It’s kind of wild and pretty incredible just understanding if you ask for help, how much you can get back,” he said onstage. Whether it’s with a therapist, a friend, or someone else, if you’re struggling, it’s okay to ask. Accepting Yourself and Where You’re At Phelps’s greatest weapon against stress? A motto he lives by on a daily basis, one that leads the Talkspace campaign for young adults: “It’s okay to not be okay.” If you or someone you know is coping with depression, call one of the hotlines mentioned at Mentalhealth.net for guidance.
