Four youngsters are being raised by Michael Phelps. This is how he guides people through “big emotions.” – Michael Phelps “didn’t want to be alive anymore” following the 2012 Olympics.
He shut himself in his room for three days. He didn’t eat or converse with anyone. His mind was racing as he lay in the fetal position, unsure of what to do.
He knew he needed assistance, but he was unsure of how to ask for it. He checked himself into a treatment facility, where he spent the following forty-five days studying coping mechanisms for his depression and the reasons behind his brain’s functioning.
He says in a video call over 14 years later, “For a long time, I looked at myself in the mirror and I saw a person with a pair of goggles and a swim cap on, not somebody with feelings and emotions.”
“I saw it written across people’s foreheads that they were struggling when I was carrying the flag during the opening ceremonies in 2016,” he recalls. “We were losing sisters and brothers. “What can we do?” I ask myself. I mean, has it been in my mind? It has, indeed. I considered suicide 100% of the time. However, I’ve also looked for alternative approaches. For me, it means not being scared to ask for assistance.
The Olympic gold winner has emerged as a mental health advocate over the last ten years, collaborating with Talkspace, an online treatment platform, in 2018. He wants to inspire anyone who is having difficulties to ask for assistance because he is no longer afraid to speak up. He has had to learn how to manage his own mental health in addition to teaching his four boys—Boomer, 10; Beckett, 8; Maverick, 7; and Nico, 2—healthy behaviors.
“Those four boys have a lot of big emotions,” says Phelps. It’s absurd. the sound, be it kicking, hitting, or punching. They are everyplace.
The “lion breath” tactic was used by Phelps and his spouse, Nicole Johnson Phelps. Their kids “get to roar and scream like a lion” when strong emotions arise.
According to Phelps, “then they’re able to drop their shoulders a little bit more and have a conversation about why they’re feeling what they’re feeling or doing what they’re doing, (such as) acting out or being aggressive toward their brothers.” “They’ve been able to open up and talk in a safe space because of that.”
“You need to bring about a generational change.”
Boys and men are more lonely than ever, yet as experts raise the alarm about the “manosphere” and “male loneliness epidemic,” discussions regarding men’s mental health have taken center stage.
According to a recent Gallup poll from 2025, 1 in 4 men between the ages of 15 and 34 report feeling lonely, compared to 18% of women. The “manosphere,” a digital collection of websites, films, and social media that support conventional gender norms and male superiority, is drawing some young men in.
“You’re supposed to be this big macho, strong, tough dude that doesn’t show vulnerability as a male athlete for so many years,” says Phelps. “That’s not a human in reality.”
Phelps has made an effort to teach his kids how to control their emotions and communicate in a healthy way “from the very beginning.”
He mentions the “lion breath” and says, “For us, it’s about trying to give them tools.” However, kids witness my wife’s and my problems, and we don’t flee and hide. We discuss it in great detail.
According to Phelps, mental health issues were more taboo in his parents’ generation, and people were supposed to suffer in private. His current goal is to bring about a “generational shift.”
He says, “You do have to start with kids, but it starts with us, too.” “That’s why we do what we do in this house, because it’s not perfect every day,” he says, attempting to set an example.
Michael Phelps’s mental health checklist
Michael Phelps’s wife encourages him to go to the pool when he’s having a rough day.
She is aware that it’s the only area where I can stop thinking. I don’t have to consider when to take a breath. I’ve been doing this for twenty-five years, correct? “Second nature,” he claims.
He uses his mental health checklist—playing golf, taking icy plunges, hanging out with friends, going to the gym to lift weights or do cardio—to lift his spirits when he’s feeling down. He uses Talkspace to conduct virtual therapy sessions from hotel rooms. Additionally, he uses his group chat with successful men from “all walks of life” who have “struggled in very similar ways,” like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Jay Glazer, Andrew Whitworth, Sean McVay, Dan Quinn, and Mark Kerr.
He explains, “It’s just the brotherhood we’ve leaned into, the vulnerability we’ve all shown, and the comfortability we have with each other just to open up and talk.” “I can’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve been crying uncontrollably on FaceTime and on the phone with each and every one of them.”
He learns he’s not alone by talking through these difficult times. Phelps wants to stress the need of human interaction because young people are increasingly using AI chatbots in place of mental health support.He claims that seeing a real therapist is more advantageous than simply entering data into a machine. “I dislike challenges, and therapy sessions present me with a variety of challenges. However, it is beneficial. It’s starting to show weakness.
He also has a new audience to reach as a parent. Phelps has a morning meeting at his children’s school every Friday to begin his day. A father approached him at the conference a few hours prior to our call. He described Phelps’ documentary “The Weight of Gold,” which examined the mental health issues and despair experienced by Olympic athletes, as “raw and real.”
“I thought, ‘That’s what it’s meant to do,'” Phelps recalls. “People deal with these genuine, unfiltered emotions.”
He went on, “I challenge all the men out there to be vulnerable.” “It’s the only way you can discover your true self and discover your best self.”
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