Ben Fogle has spent much of his life surviving the world’s harshest landscapes — from frozen wilderness to remote, unforgiving terrain. But the battle that nearly broke him, he admits, came without warning… and from within.

The beloved British adventurer and wildlife presenter, 51, has opened up about a devastating mental breakdown that struck in 2023, leaving him gripped by nausea, crippling anxiety and overwhelming paranoia.

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Ben Fogle has emotionally opened up about his mental breakdown that left him with nausea, crippling anxiety and paranoia

And unlike previous emotional lows he had learned to anticipate, this one blindsided him completely.

“It was a total breakdown,” Ben confessed in a raw new interview. “I wasn’t prepared for it. The physical symptoms were terrifying — constant nausea, anxiety that froze me in place, and paranoia I couldn’t escape.”

For years, Ben had noticed a pattern. After returning home from high-adrenaline expeditions — moments when his body and mind were pushed to the edge — a familiar emotional crash would follow. He understood it. He managed it.

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 Ben, who shares children Ludo, 16, Iona, 14 with wife Marina, has previously said his depressive episodes typically occur after high-adrenaline explorations (pictured in 2012)

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Ben has been married to his glamorous wife Marina since 2006, though she keeps out of the limelight (pictured together in 2018)

But this time was different.

“This one caught me completely off-guard,” he said. “There was no clear trigger. No warning signs. It just hit.”

The father-of-two, who shares children Ludo, 16, and Iona, 14, with his wife Marina, says the experience forced him to confront a side of mental health many men still struggle to acknowledge.

“I’m better now,” he explained, “but I felt a responsibility to speak out — especially for young men who are taught to bottle things up. There is no shame in this. No weakness. It’s part of being human.”

In 2024, Ben received another life-changing revelation: a diagnosis of ADHD.

At the time, he admitted that everyday life had begun to feel unexpectedly difficult. Tasks that once came easily now felt overwhelming. His thoughts were scattered. His focus fractured.

“I’ve changed neurologically,” he said. “That’s the reality.”

Already dyslexic and long resistant to labels, Ben was initially sceptical of yet another diagnosis. But over time, clarity replaced doubt.

“I hate labels,” he admitted. “They’re too simplistic. A single word can never capture who we really are. I’m privileged, but I’m also compassionate. I’m a public figure, but I’m shy. I’m dyslexic — and I’m an award-winning writer.”

“You are never just one thing.”

Rather than seeing ADHD as a weakness, Ben insists it has helped him better understand himself.

“It doesn’t make me fragile,” he said. “It makes me vulnerable. And there’s a difference.”

In the aftermath of his breakdown, recovery came from an unexpected place. Saunas — once a quiet indulgence during his travels — became a form of medicine.

Writing for The Times, Ben revealed that intense heat and stillness helped calm his mind in ways nothing else could. From Sweden and Russia to Antarctica and even the Chernobyl exclusion zone, saunas became his refuge.

“What began as relaxation became healing,” he wrote. “They became my medicine.”

Today, Ben says he is in a better place — not cured, not unchanged, but more self-aware than ever before.

“I have ADHD,” he said simply. “But I am still me.”

And for a man who has faced nature at its most extreme, it is this quiet honesty — not physical endurance — that may prove his bravest expedition yet.