Carson Daly is a changed man. Since 2018, the longtime host of “The Voice” has bravely shared some of his struggles with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) in hopes of helping others. After decades of struggling, he now says receiving a diagnosis to explain his ongoing challenges was “the best day of my life.”
On May 16, 2025, Daly opened up about his journey on “The Bubba Show” on Pittsburgh radio station 100.7 Star morning. His appearance was part of Audacy’s “More Good Days in May” initiative to promote mental health resources and awareness.
“It was really the best day of my life to know that all the sort of crazy thoughts that I had had (were explainable),” he told hosts Bubba and Melanie Taylor. “I thought I was losing my mind or like my brain was broken. I was so happy to learn that it was a normal thing and (there) was a name to it.”
Carson Daly Says He ‘Had No Idea What Was Happening’ When He Started Having Panic Attacks
Daly, who will host “The Voice” season 27 finale on May 20, first revealed his GAD and mild panic disorder diagnoses on the “Today Show” in 2018. He admitted at the time that managing panic attacks on live television, from MTV’s “TRL” to “The Voice” — had been an ongoing challenge for him.
The symptoms of GAD, according to the Mayo Clinic, include “excessive, ongoing anxiety and worry that are difficult to control and interfere with day-to-day activities.” Panic disorders, meanwhile, cause “frequent and unexpected panic attacks,” per the National Institute of Mental Health. A panic attack is described as “a sudden wave of fear or a sense of losing control” that happens even when there is no obvious danger or trigger.
For decades, Daly didn’t know what was happening to him, but told the Taylors, “Really now with this diagnosis, (I) look back on almost my whole life and realize that I’ve been kind of suffering from this anxiety disorder, but we never talked about it and so I had no idea.”
“I had no way of articulating it,” he continued, noting that growing up, he felt “very nervous all the time.”
“Then I started suffering from panic attacks later in my 20s when I was at MTV, and I just had no idea what was happening to me,” he said, “until I went and finally got some help and got this diagnosis.”
Carson Daly Says He Wanted to ‘Run Off Stage’ During Panic Attack on ‘The Voice’
In October 2022, during a Facebook Live with psychologist and mental health advocate Dr. Alfiee Breland-Noble, Daly opened up about having a panic attack while hosting “The Voice.” He described a moment when he was live on-air and had to stick his hand inside his pocket as a coping mechanism.
“You think my right hand’s in my pocket just being casual, (like) ‘I’m on TV and my life is so great,'” he recalled. “The truth is, in that moment, I was gripping the flesh of my upper right thigh because a wave of panic was coming through me, and I was so scared.”
“I wanted to run off the stage because it’s one of the symptoms of panic,” Daly continued. “I can’t control my nervous system. Fight or flight kicks in. The threat is real, but there’s nothing there. I have to just ride that wave on live TV.”
Learning the physiology of his disorders and how to manage them has made all the difference for Daly.
During his appearance on “The Bubba Show,” he said, “Once you accept it and you realize, you’re not sick or you could still perform at work and you’re not a complete outcast, and there are things that other people are dealing with, it actually becomes very easy to sort of manage once you realize what’s happening.”
Anyone struggling with anxiety or panic attacks can connect with a volunteer crisis counselor via the national Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.
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Carson Daly Bravely Shares He Spent ‘Almost My Whole Life’ Suffering From Undiagnosed Disorders