Maria Shriver opens up about Arnold Schwarzenegger's infidelity

Maria Shriver has opened up about the loss and grief she suffered after her marriage broke down.

In her new book I Am Maria - a collection of poems and reflections - Shriver revealed she was unable to get off the floor of her hotel room after learning of her husband Arnold Schwarzenegger's infidelity.

"I was consumed with grief and wracked with confusion, anger, fear, sadness and anxiety. I was unsure now of who I was, where I belonged. Honestly, it was brutal, and I was terrified," Shriver wrote in an excerpt published by People.

"As I sat on my hotel room floor in the dark, alone with tears streaming down my face, I thought to myself: Maria, this doesn't have to be the end of you," she added.'

The pair were married for 25 years. In 2011, Schwarzenegger admitted to fathering a child with one of his employees. While the identity of the mystery woman wasn't immediately made public, it was later revealed to have been Schwarzenegger and Shriver's long-time housekeeper, Mildred Baena.

"I made lots of mistakes," Shriver admitted. "One of them was tying my self-worth to my achievements," she writes in the book.

"Another big mistake was thinking that someone outside of me could guarantee my safety, my worth and my peace."