Tish Cyrus opens up about anxiety after losing mother and marriage

Tish Cyrus has revealed she was “not functioning” during what she calls a devastating period marked by profound loss and emotional upheaval.

The 58-year-old producer and mother of Miley Cyrus opened up about her mental health on The Squeeze podcast, sharing that her anxiety spiraled after the death of her mother, Loretta Finley, in 2020, followed closely by the breakdown of her marriage to Billy Ray Cyrus.

Cyrus said she had always lived with mild anxiety, but the combination of grief and divorce intensified it to a crippling level.

During that time, she admitted to using marijuana as a way to cope, describing it as unintentional self-medication that numbed her pain.

“I was in full-on anxiety to the point of not functioning,” she said, adding that she didn’t initially understand what was happening to her.

Cyrus described losing her mother and her marriage as the two most tragic events of her life, noting how deeply her children—especially Miley—were affected by Finley’s death.

She credits therapy with helping her regain stability and said she is now in a much healthier place. 

Cyrus also shared that her relationship with actor Dominic Purcell has provided a sense of safety and calm she hadn’t felt in years.