Carson Daly Reveals How He Repaired His Mental Health After A 'Wreck' Of A Year

As Carson Daly continues his mission to "walk the walk" in mental health advocacy, he recognizes the significance of initiating conversations at home.

The 51-year-old "Today" co-host, who shares four children—Jackson James, Etta Jones, London Rose, and Goldie Patricia—with his wife Siri Pinter, emphasizes the importance of his kids speaking up when something feels off, both physically and emotionally.

Carson Daly, who first opened up about his struggles with anxiety and panic attacks in 2018, credits his well-being to his daily routine, which includes a dip in the water.

At the Project Healthy Minds Gala, Carson Daly spoke to Page Six, revealing that " one year ago, I was at this event at maybe one of the lower points in my mental health."

“Physically and mentally, I was a wreck, and I thought, ‘Next year I want to get better,'” he added.

Daly, who first shared his journey with anxiety and panic disorders following a conversation with Kevin Love on "Today" in 2018, also revealed his secret to maintaining his mental health.

“I’ve cold-plunged every day for a year,” he shared. “I have a home cold plunge. 40 degrees, literally two minutes every day," though it is not easy.

“It’s really hard to do, and it turns out doing hard things is good for you,” he told the outlet.

Daly, who shares four children with his wife Siri Pinter, opened up about the importance of his kids speaking up when something feels off.

“Their whole lives, they know two types [of health], there's physical health and mental health,” he told People Magazine. “If you hurt your wrist at school, you go to the doctor. And if you're feeling sad and you really don't know why or if there's something going on in your mind, you're having a hard time grappling with, you talk to somebody about that too.”

And part of that honesty involves being open about the efforts he and his wife are making to strengthen their marriage.

“My wife and I have gone through couples therapy where they've walked in the room on Zoom and it's not like I hide it. ‘Hey, what are you guys doing?' " Daly told People. " ‘Oh, we're doing, mom and I do our couples therapy. We get to do it once a week.’ ”

‘Marriage is hard. This helps mom and dad out.’ That's how I talk to my kids," he said.

On October 10, 2023, Carson Daly hosted the inaugural gala for Project Healthy Minds, a non-profit dedicated to eliminating the stigma surrounding mental health and providing access to essential resources. As he delivered a powerful speech, the "Voice" host opened up about his first panic attack. 

"I was in my dressing room and I could sense all the normal live buzz of the show before it went on. I could hear the crowd outside. I could hear horns honking, normal 'Total Request' chaos, very usual," he said. "Then something very unusual happened to me."

"Out of nowhere in my dressing room, I felt what I can describe as a snap in my brain. My heart started to race and fear went through my body," Daly recalled. "It was like somebody cracked one of those cold compresses at a little league game and put it on my neck. I could see my producer talking to me in the doorway, totally normal expression on his face, saying something about Hanson, probably. I couldn’t hear him. It looked like he was talking in slo-mo."

"I was literally leaving reality. I thought, my God, I’m having a stroke in front of Hanson. It passed in 30 seconds, but it felt like 30 minutes," he added.

During the event, he also spoke about his connection to Project Healthy Minds and his personal mental health journey.

"I do want to give a little context to my relationship to Project Healthy Minds and this whole movement here," he began. "I had sort of the privilege of being around when PHM, as we call it, was born. It was actually six years ago this month."

"My friend Logic had performed his song at the VMAs in 2017. It was a song about somebody with depression calling the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. He did it on the VMAs,"  Daly continued. "And I read an article about how just in the hours after the VMAs, the call skyrocketed to the hotline. It was up by 50%."

Daly said that right after that he interviewed Logic and "some guy named Phil Schermer" (the CEO of Project Health Minds). "That's where they announced during the interview the birth of Project Healthy Minds," he continued. "And that’s when I decided that I didn’t just want to help promote them, I wanted to join them. I wanted to help in the fight."

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, call or text 988 or chat online to connect with a trained crisis counselor 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.