TV presenter Fiona Phillips said she suffered a breakdown while dealing with GMTV and her family's battle with Alzheimer's.
The 49-year-old, who had been "severely depressed" and quit as a presenter on the show more than a year ago, said she was writing a book about how she dealt with the impact of the disease.
Phillips' mother Amy had Alzheimer's and died three years ago and her father Phil has also been diagnosed with the condition.
Speaking about her book, mother-of-two Phillips told New! magazine: "It's about the build-up of the whole Alzheimer's thing and how I dealt with it.
"Because, you know, I had a breakdown, dealing with GMTV and what my mum went through.
"When I look back, I do think, God I was severely depressed. I didn't want to go out. It was everything I could do to just go into work and look after the children. I was not functioning normally at all."
Phillips said her former colleague Eamonn Holmes would tell her she needed help.
She continued: "I'd say, 'No, no. I'm fine'.
"But everyone's got hard times in their lives so I don't really want to moan on about it."
When she announced her departure in 2008, Phillips, who is fronting a new TV show called Forces Reunited on Sky Real Lives, described it as "the hardest decision I have ever made".
She also told the Sunday Times she quit the show after fearing she may develop Alzheimer's herself.
She told the newspaper previously: "I am very aware that I may have only 10 years left of life as I know it."
Asked about Penny Smith's departure from the show and reports of cuts, Phillips told New!: "I'm glad I'm not there now.
"It's awful to have to sit there every morning and carry on, not knowing if you're going to be there next week or next month."
Phillips described it as a "very privileged" job, but said it had downsides.
She said: "For one, there's the vitriol that's written about you on the internet. You really have to ignore it, because if you don't, you might as well slash your wrists."
Phillips was asked what her husband, Martin Frizell, GMTV's former editor whose departure was confirmed in December, was up to.
She joked: "Annoying me! He spends a lot of time on the computer, but he won't be sitting around for long. He's determined not to be.
"When you've been in a job which occupies you seven days a week, it's weird to go from that to not having anywhere to go to in the mornings. So yeah, it's difficult."
© Press Association