Phelps, who experienced “scary” lows during COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, said that he’s on a good place at the moment thanks to medication and talk therapy.
. “There’s no other person that would be able to support me like she has. She’s the glue that holds all of us together.”
“Sometimes my kids will just see me leave the room. And that’s because I’m overwhelmed, and my emotions are firing on all cylinders and I can’t think straight,” the 23-time gold medalist revealed. Phelps added that Nicole is also helping him to work through childhood trauma and feelings of abandonment. Phelps' parents divorced when he was 9, and he was largely raised by his mother. Often, Nicole will find a book or a quote that she thinks will resonate with Phelps.
Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, spoke to TODAY in 2017 about compartmentalizing his dark feelings rather than working through what was bothering him.