‘I was catastrophising constantly’: Anita Rani reveals why she publicly shared her experience of ‘world ending’ anxiety

Anita Rani is usually private when it comes to her personal life, and would ordinarily describe herself as "not an anxious person."

However, when she was hit by a very sudden, "crippling" and "world ending" anxiety, the broadcaster made the decision to publicly share what was happening.

One time when the feeling struck, Anita tells The Times, "I was running in my local park when suddenly I burst into tears, which for someone who releases tears mainly through songs and movies is a new experience."

She says the emotions came "out of nowhere," leaving her feeling "so overwhelmed that tears started flowing down my face."

Not recognising herself, she asked, "Who was this woman?" revealing this was "the latest in a series of incidents" that showed she wasn't feeling quite right.

When the same thing happened again during another run, Anita immediately uploaded a quick video to her Instagram account to tell her followers what she was going through.

She captioned it, "Not my usual kind of post - but something I really wanted to share in case anyone else is feeling similar.

"Recorded while out and about doing the thing that has always made sense for my mental health - going for a run." The video gave details of the challenging experience, and the presenter was instantly flooded with support from both the public, and fellow celebrities.

Explaining just how unexpected her feelings were, Anita shares, "I’m not an anxious person. Stepping into anxiety-inducing situations is part of the job," saying that she thrives on the "buzz" and confidence is something that "comes easy to me."

To be hit with "catastrophising" and "worrying constantly" made her feel like "the world was ending."

Anita also describes that outside of her runs, a "destructive little voice" in her head made her question ability in her working life - if she was the right person to be interviewing "smart women" and making her ask of herself, "What is the point of any of it?."

Candidly, Anita shares that in that moment, she decided to make her experience public because life felt "meaningless and exhausting," and her "coping mechanisms had deserted me."

Feeling lost "in a moment of crisis," the presenter says the was overwhelmed by the number of messages she received, and how positive it felt to be "scooped up by strangers."

Of the well-known names to comment, Zoe Ball wrote under the Instagram post, "Oh darling girl. It is so overwhelming when it comes, I hear you. It was by far my biggest symptom with menopause and undid me quite a bit. Sending you so much love."

One of the reasons Anita felt blindsided by her symptoms was because she'd grown up in an environment where "the inner workings of the female body" weren't spoken about, and she was unprepared for what might happen during menopause.

She reveals being dismissed by doctors after suffering what she thought were perimenopause symptoms in her late 30s, eventually being told just to get therapy.

Anita has previously tried and then stopped HRT, but is now going to give it another go. The presenter says she's "willing to try anything" to ease her anxiety symptoms, and will "take all the mushrooms and mantras that are thrown at me."

She's not ready to give up alcohol quite yet though. "There is no way I will surrender my Friday night champagne. It’s taken me years of graft to become champagne woman," she says.