Victoria Derbyshire has spoken out about her secret battle with depression and anxiety.
The 51-year-old broadcaster has revealed that she had battled through two bouts of depression which left her "absolutely knackered."
The periods of darkness in her life brought on anxiety and made her question whether she could competently continue with her TV and radio shows.
Victoria was speaking to more than 500 business leaders at Women Mean Business Live in London, in which she was in conversation with The Telegraph's Bryony Gordon.
During her revealing chat, Victoria said she was gripped with insecurity surrounding her job which took her down to her lowest ebb.
She suffered a second bout of depression earlier this year, a decade after the first when she was broadcasting on BBC Radio Five Live.
Victoria said that her second spell, which was just months ago, was brought on by the menopause.
Speaking about how her days were getting crippled by the illness, Victoria said: "I was getting to a point where I was overwhelmed and waking up at 2am then not sleeping between 2am and 4.30am when I usually get up.
"I was absolutely knackered and getting slightly anxious. I thought 'I'm not good at my job anymore'."
It has been a difficult few years for Victoria, who had a very public battle with cancer in 2015.
She was diagnosed with breast cancer and she documented her successful battle to beat it and has proved to have been an inspiration to countless others.
Victoria had a mastectomy and chemotherapy after being diagnosed with stage 2 lobular breast cancer and was eventually given the all clear in 2016.
Speaking about her recent bout of depression, Victoria said she initially took a week off work, during which she slept for "hours and hours."
Victoria revealed she was reduced to tears as the doctor was "nice and kind" to her before prescribing anti-depressants and insisting she took another couple weeks off work.
Recalling her conversation, Victoria said: "I went to the doctors and said I wasn't sleeping, and after I'd given the long list of symptoms I said 'but I don't think I'm depressed'. The doctor said "I think you are".'
Victoria has said that the she has since stopped taking the anti-depressants as she believes she has recovered from the illness.
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