Phelps speaks out about depression after Games

Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian in history, is using his lofty perch to call on the U.S. Olympic Committee to help athletes who are struggling with depression.

Phelps is speaking out at a time when a host of athletes are bringing mental health issues to national attention, attempting to remove the stigma from depression and suicidal impulses.

“I’m somebody who’s gone through at least three or four major depression spells after [Olympic] Games that, you know, I’ve put my life in danger,” Phelps said on David Axelrod’s “The Axe Files” podcast. “... The USOC, in my opinion, hasn’t done anything to help us transition after an Olympics . ... It’s something that we’re working towards now.”

After the 2012 Olympics,

Phelps said, he became suicidal after “doing the bare minimum” to compete and wanting to get away from the sport. By 2014, when he got his second DUI, he admitted he was “running from something,” adding, “I wanted to die. I straight wanted to die.”

“We were prescribed Ambien because we were travelling the world and I actually looked back and I had one Ambien left,” he said. “And I’m actually happy I only had one . ... That scares the living hell out of me.”

Phelps described the post Olympic void, saying, “you take a step and just fall right down.” For him, that first stumble was a DUI in 2004, when he “didn’t know what was causing me to put myself in bad situations” because of alcohol and drug use.