Missy Franklin, Olympic gold medalist swimmer, says lessons from therapy help in lockdown

Five-time Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin has fought in the mental health field before, but says lessons like this from her therapist still help her lock herself up.

Like many others, Franklin is facing “tough days” of foreclosure. Days when “your emotions are little more than a roller coaster”.

The American swimmer won four gold medals at 17 at the London Games in 2012. But after a disappointing Olympics four years later, she has struggled with mental health issues which she has now overcome.

“And it has been really effective for me on the days when I feel weak and the negative inner discourse begins to creep in. I can step in and say,” No. You are not allowed to speak to yourself. like that. I don’t give myself permission to speak to me like that.

“And I’m still working on it. There are still days when these thoughts creep in. But I think when you have the days when you’re just silent, when your emotions are a little more than a roller coaster, being so full love for you and be kind to yourself helps. “

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With so much success in 2012, many expectations were raised at Franklin’s door before the 2016 Olympic Games.

Although she added another gold medal to her tally, in the 4×200 meter freestyle, she failed to win any medal in any of her individual events.

Franklin credits her ability to deal with the problems she encountered to two other American swimmers, Michael Phelps and Allison Schmitt, who spoke openly about the depression.

After visiting a therapist, Franklin says she finds that the lessons she learned are still applicable in these strange times.

“One of the biggest things I learned was to recognize that I really called my own feelings and emotions good and bad,” she said.

“When you’re happy, it feels really good, and when you’re sad, it’s definitely a different feeling, so I would call it bad. And one of the things I really had to work on was that emotions are not binary. They are neither good nor bad. They are just true, which is most important. They are real. “

Now locked in her Colorado home with her husband, Hayes, and their dog, Oliver, the lessons she learned from therapy help her cope with the time spent inside.

“It helped me a lot in those days when I wake up and I am exhausted, I am not motivated, I do not do work that day.

“And instead of getting really flat and thinking that I had a really unproductive day, I think,” No, that’s what I needed today, emotionally, physically, that my body asked for and I honored it, I respected this. ‘”