Markus Rogan is a two-time Olympic medalist and former world record holder. The Austrian elite swimmer graduated from Stanford and is now a psychotherapist in training, overcoming his own small-country applause addiction. He shares his thoughts on Michael Phelps in the aftermath of Phelps’ 2nd DUI arrest.
Follow Markus Rogan on Twitter @mahrqoos or check out his web HQ here.
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FROM MARKUS ROGAN
Ray Rice punching his fiancé, Michael Phelps drunk and speeding, Tiger Woods sinking his private putter into every available hole…we have gotten used to stories of millionaire athletes breaking a darker type of boundaries.
And we end up blaming the athlete. Should we?
Imagine yourself in a world where you are celebrated by millions of fans and dollars. Where catching a ball, touching a wall or sinking a put can trigger an outpour of love, admiration and chants of your name from everybody around you. Where your very personhood is made synonymous with greatness, power and perfection.
On a rational level, you don’t actually believe your own cult. But rational thinking occurs in the prefrontal cortex, which is completely circumvented in this process. A heroin addict knows the needle is bad for him. But his brain is hijacked. Literally. Adrenaline and dopamine receptors are activated via the limbic system and its primitive, animalist pathways. The same thing happens when we hear applause. It feels good. We love it. Even though we know it’s not really about us, we feel like it is ours alone. Positive reinforcement is the most effective form of psychological conditioning.
With this unrefined admiration, we are creating a toxic mélange of stardom, boredom and a perceived sense of invincibility for our athletes.
The sport celebrates the boundaries they break, fans supply monotonous, bland, and yet addicting support, and sponsors turn stars into statues of gold. So where is the edge? If nobody can touch you on the field of play, in the fan zone and on billboards, how can you feel yourself? Where does your person end and your persona begin? Deep down, all of us are looking for something real. For somebody to tell us where fantasy ends and reality starts. And if we don’t get it, we look for it. In a bottle. And then in a car. And then at 84 miles per hour. Knowing Michael, the person deep inside of him may have thanked the policeman who stopped him for showing him a bit of reality. Just a small glimpse, in a private moment they had, right after his car stopped and before the media circus started.
The whorts part of this is people say that he has an alcohol problem? As far as i know, two incidents during a long timeperiod Does not counts as a problem? And ig it did, probobly every college student ever would have a problem much bigger then Michael. Now drunken driving is not something to defend. Because as soon you put others at risk i think its a really bad decition.
Sorry for my bad English
I wonder how many other 29 year olds were busted for DUI Tuesday morning. Or last weekend. It’s a very stupid thing to do, a very dangerous and bad thing. An all too common thing. Lots of us have managed to avoid getting pulled over when we would have failed a breathalyzer. There were several times many years ago when I shouldn’t have been behind the wheel. I don’t think I’ll ever do it again, especially since I’m horrified by the idea and I’m not much of a drinker.
What about all those heavy drinkers out there? How many get behind the wheel daily?
And what does it say about a man’s state of mind to be speeding in… Read more »
Well, I suffered from being diagnosed as ADHD as a child. From recent information from some psychologists it might be more of Aspergers or non-verbal leaning disability where you have difficulty with visual perception I’ve been fired from jobs. Many people with ADHD and Aspergers and Dyslexia or Tourette syndrome have problems some of its rooted in children when you are considered strange or odd. Many unsuccessful people with ADHD have the same problems as Michael granted being a top sports person with fans is difficult for anyone but with some of the disorders mention above with being put down when you are a child and having more emotional unevenness makes it harder. In fact many folks with ADHD are… Read more »
Cynthia: you make a good point. And the research findings you cited are valid. You just have to be careful not to assume ADHD is the root of all of Michael’s problems. It definitely plays a factor. But there are other factors too. He was raised in a single parent home, for example. Males living in single parent homes are more likely to have conduct problems. So it’s likely a bunch of factors together. Besides, how do you treat adult ADHD anyway? Give Ritalin? I don’t think that is the solution. As I stated on a previous post, Phelps has to be evaluated in person by a professional. But even a casual observer can see the guy has problems in… Read more »
What a croc. “Sports doesn’t build character, it brings out the character you already have” John Wooden To answer the question in the title”Yes”
Court date set for Nov 19th we will have to see what happens if anything. According to MD law this will be as a first offense more then 5 year and he was under 21. But in court of public opinion its twice.
It feels as though people are really overreacting to this situation. Who knows, maybe the street was deserted? It was 1 30am after all. While I dont agree with the view of the article, that fame makes you forget reality (phelps isnt THAT famous, some people dont even know who he is outside the swimming world) everyone seems to be exaggerating the notion that lives other than his own were at risk
Most people who have just collected their second dui, and an egregious one at that, are chronic alcoholics. I think it is not unreasonable to think this is true of Phelps now. How regularly has he been drinking and driving like this between arrests? How has he managed his superhuman athletic feats while burdening himself with the extremely performance inhibiting effects of getting hammered and driving like a maniac around Baltimore all night? It makes me suspicious of his entire athletic career.
Markus. You are a hero in Austria, and current Ph.D candidate in neuropsychology. Your perspective (and diagnosis) is insightful and obviously unique. You have witnessed the adulation and intense spotlight in your own country, but you have moved on with your life. Question: what is the solution for Phelps and a thousand other brilliant athletes who try to make the transition to the “real world” and the responsibilities of adulthood?