Ashley Judd Reflects On What Mental Illness 'Stole' From Late Mother Naomi Judd
HuffPost
The actor spoke about her mother's death at an event for the White House's new National Strategy for Suicide Prevention.
Ashley Judd is sharing the story of her mother Naomi Judd’s suicide in hopes of helping others living with mental illness.
The “Double Jeopardy” actor appeared at the White House on Tuesday as part of the rollout for President Joe Biden’s new National Strategy for Suicide Prevention, where she spoke about the late country singer’s legacy along with her own history of trauma.
Joining United States Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, suicide prevention activist Shelby Rowe and musician Aloe Blacc on stage, Ashley Judd said, “I’m here because I am my beloved mother’s daughter and on the day she died, which will be the two-year anniversary in one week, the disease of mental illness was lying to her.”
“And with great terror convinced her that it would never get better,” she said of her mom, who died in April 2022.
While Judd noted how her mother “left country music better than she found it,” she added, “She also lived most of her life with an untreated and undiagnosed mental illness that lied to her and stole from her. It stole from our family, and she deserved better.”