“Look at the Wall and…” Michael Phelps Confessed His Rude Behavior With Nurse During His Therapy Session Once

Published 07/29/2022, 9:45 AM EDT

Swimming legend Michael Phelps has led an incredible career. Arguably, he surpasses every other Olympian in terms of accolades and glory. However, in between those remarkable victories are some moments he is not proud of.

Back in 2014, after his second DUI arrest, the 23-time Olympic gold medalist went through a mental breakdown. As a result, he often lashed out at people who were around him at that moment. Phelps vividly remembers how he was rude to a nurse who came to wake him up in the morning.

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Michael Phelps was on the edge of his tolerance at the moment

After the 2012 London Olympics, Michael Phelps announced his retirement because he and his coach couldn’t figure out the next step of their journey. It was a tormenting time for the swimming legend, as for the first time in his life, he didn’t have any goals in his life. He didn’t have something to strive for and give his entire energy to. Thus, he collapsed into a mental health crisis, and the only way out was to confront those issues in therapy.

On the first day, a nurse woke him at 6 a.m. and said, “Look at the wall and tell me what you feel.” However, Phelps, who was on the edge of his tolerance, rudely answered, “How do you think I feel right now, I’m pretty ticked off, I’m not happy, I’m not a morning person.”

“Can Literally Do It in My Sleep”: Michael Phelps Is Taking Forward His Swimming Career in Another Field

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The Baltimore Bullet was scared of the change

Michael Phelps put his mental health traumas under the rug for years because he was not ready to confront them. A similar fear clutched him when he decided to go to therapy. About the experience, he said, “I remember going to treatment my very first day, I was shaking, shaking because I was nervous about the change that was coming up.” Hence, being rude to the nurse could’ve been his defense mechanism acting. Though now that he recalls the moment, it’s something he could laugh about.

In a way, what Phelps went through was somewhat necessary. It’s probably because of these low points that he got back his purpose in life. Furthermore, it also gave him the much-needed motivation to finish his career at its peak in 2016.

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Written by:

Saurav Panwar is a US Sports writer at EssentiallySports. A postgraduate in Media and Communication Studies, he shares a profound love for creative direction and filmmaking. Saurav is also an avid reader and a literature devotee whose fandom spreads from classics to sci-fi, non-fiction, plays, comics, and much more.

Edited by:

Simar Singh Wadhwa

“Look at the Wall and…” Michael Phelps Confessed His Rude Behavior With Nurse During His Therapy Session Once

Michael Phelps was on the edge of his tolerance at the moment

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