Amid Michael Phelps' struggles with mental health, his wife Nicole opens up about normalizing discussions with their kids

Michael Phelps's wife, Nicole, shared that the couple normalised discussions around mental health since their son Boomer was little and continues to offer a safe space for the kids to feel everything. Phelps struggled with mental health issues and depression during his competitive years.

Phelps was at the peak of his success after the 2004 Summer Games when he first faced 'post-Olympic' depression. Despite winning six gold medals and breaking records, he bombarded himself with questions and wondered what awaited him after achieving what he trained for. Since 2004, the 39-year-old has been on and off in his mental health journey, frequently having suicidal thoughts.

The greatest Olympian of all time is still recovering with therapy, exercise, and self-care measures, even eight years after his retirement. In his highs and lows, his wife, Nicole's support remained unwavered. The 2010 Miss California, who married him in 2016, even introduced his kids to their father's struggles.

She said about that in the 'Between Us Moms' podcast:

"I mean it has been it has been since Boomer was little because Michael struggles and so it's you know Hey, hey dad's having a rough day and he can't be out here with us right now because he just needs a moment So probably gosh, I'm trying to think about what COVID happened. So that was what, 2020? So he would have been four years old, so we were already discussing it prior to that, and then that kind of exacerbated things within the households and then still to this day. It's like yeah, you can fill your stuff in. We have to find the resiliency and coming out of it."

Michael Phelps' depression went so out of hand that he was faced DUI arrest for driving under the influence, overspeeding, and other charges.

Nicole once shared her learnings from Michael Phelps' mental health journey

Phelps at the Olympic Games: Day 7 - (Source: Getty)

Michael Phelps initially kept his feelings suppressed, but with therapy, he opened up gradually and made his wife an advocate for it as well. Nicole Phelps once sat in a conversation with Today in 2021, saying that her primary goal was to fix the 23-time Olympic gold medalist by talking it out.

However, she later realized that she couldn't be in her husband's position and understand how he felt.

"I used to think, ‘Oh, I can fix him. I can be his therapist. I can be what he needs. But what I’ve learned is that you can’t take ownership for how they’re feeling, no matter how badly you want to,” she said.

The Phelps couple now helps hundreds of kids and families through their Michael Phelps Foundation.