"I knew I needed to seek professional help"- Michael Phelps opens up on decision to be vulnerable after foreseeing a series of uncertainties

Michael Phelps opened up about his decision to seek professional help after foreseeing a lot of uncertainties. The legendary swimmer spoke about the exact moment he decided to seek help, when he felt that he was going around in a loop without a resolution.

Michael Phelps is one of the greatest swimmers to compete in the modern era, with the most Olympic medals to his name. Along with his incredible performances in the pool, Phelps has been vocal about his struggles with mental health.

The 39-year-old swimmer has been an advocate for mental health and often urges people to seek help for their struggles. In an interview with Sunday Paper, Phelps spoke about the time he felt clueless how to go forward, which is when he realized that it was time to get professional help.

"The easiest way to say it is this: When I woke up the next morning after taking all of my Ambien and I was still alive. I had never taken 30 milligrams of Ambien. I had some drinks that night and thought, Oh, let's see what 30 milligrams does. woke up the next morning and I was like, Okay, I need to figure something out because if I don't, then it's just going to continue to spiral. At that very moment, I knew I needed to seek professional help," he said.

"It was the first time in my life I really had to become vulnerable because I was at that stage where I didn't really know what to do and I didn't know who to turn to and I knew I needed help," he added.

Michael Phelps on dealing with depression while competing as a professional swimmer

Profile Of Former Olympic Swimmer Michael Phelps - Source: Getty

Michael Phelps also talked about dealing with depression while competing as an athlete in an interview with Today.

The legendary swimmer said he initially felt that opening up about his struggles would give his competitors an edge over him. It took him some time to learn to be vulnerable, which had a profound impact on him later on.

“I think at that point I’ll say as a male athlete I could tell something was off. But I think I saw it as a sign of weakness and if I shared anything about it then it would give my competitors an edge. And I’m not trying to do that, right? I don’t want to give my competitors an edge," he said.

"So for me, I had to learn that vulnerability is a good thing. And it was scary at first, but I learned that vulnerability just means change. And for me it was a great change," he added.

Despite all the struggles, Phelps managed to put forward some great performances that etched his name in the history books.