Tish Cyrus was "not functioning" as she battled "absolutely horrible" anxiety following the death of her mom and the breakdown of her marriage.

Miley Cyrus' mother, 58, has opened up about her mental health problems and revealed she's always experienced "a little bit of anxiety" but it got a lot worse after her mom Loretta Finley died at 85 in 2020 and her relationship with then-husband Billy Ray Cyrus began to unravel with Tish admitted she turned to smoking weed in a bid to calm herself.

During an appearance on The Squeeze podcast, Tish explained: "I've always had a little bit of anxiety. I do think at that time, that was almost like medicine for me - because I'm a huge believer in plant medicine - and I think that I probably during the time I lost my mom and my marriage fell apart, that was like self-medicating in some ways, and I didn't even realise that I was doing it for that reason ...

"I do think it kinda numbed all that pain ... [I was] just in full-on anxiety to the point, [of] like, not functioning. And I did not know what was happening."

She went on to add the loss of her mother and the collapse of her marriage - which ended in divorce in 2022 - were the two "tragic things" to have happened in her life and it was a "freaking rough" year.

Tish went on to say: "I did not, like, process or even stop to really think ... I was very close to my mom, and my kids were really close to my mom ... She was just a massive part of our lives. ...

"Her and Miley were very close. She'd go to the set with Miley and just my kids just worshiped her … when she passed, not long after that, my marriage started falling apart."

However, Tish credits going to therapy with helping her pull through the tough time, saying: "When I started therapy, and I really started talking about my life and moving out here and my kids in the business and, what my life had been, they were like, 'Wow' ...

"I'm sure anyone that has experienced anxiety at that level, it is horrible. Absolutely horrible, and it lasted a long time. And I just now am really learning how to deal with it, and I'm so much better. Like, I was not functioning for that year - I was just trying to survive."

Tish is now in a happy relationship with actor Dominic Purcell and she added of the romance: "It was so safe ... [There was] just no drama. I think it gave me this place to stand still and, like, feel all these feelings."