Ashley Judd Says ‘Undiagnosed’ Mental Illness ‘Stole’ Mom Naomi Judd

Ashley Judd is advocating for a new mental health program ahead of the second anniversary of her mother Naomi Judd’s death.

The 56-year-old actress and activist opened up about her story and her mother’s story in order to promote the Biden Administration’s newly formed National Strategy for Suicide Prevention at the White House on April 23.

“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,” Ashley shared during an emotional address to the panel.

She noted that despite her mother’s various successes, both privately and professionally in country music, she had also been a “survivor of childhood and adult male sexual violence” and was fighting an unseen disease.

“She also lived most of her life with an untreated and undiagnosed mental illness that lied to her and stole from her and it stole from our family, and she deserved better,” Ashley explained.

The Lazareth actress, who previously discussed her childhood in her 2011 memoir All That Is Bitter and Sweet, noted that her early experiences brought an “onset of childhood depression” and the “feeling of not wanting to be here.” However, with treatment that began in 2006, she’s been able to heal. 

“I’ve been in good recovery for 18 years and I’ve had a different outcome than my mother,” she told the audience at the White House. “I carry a message of hope and recovery.”

She also promoted the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention on her Instagram Stories, and thanked the government for “creating a plan based on care, connection and collaboration.” The actress noted the program’s importance amid a “worsening mental health crisis.”

Naomi died by suicide on April 30, 2022 at age 76. Since her death, Ashley has been open about her grieving process, and previously shared during a July 2022 podcast that her mother’s death has given her a new perspective on mental illness.

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“I look back on my childhood… and there are different behavioral expressions, interactions, flights of fancy, choices that she made that I understand were an expression of the disease, and I understand that and know that she was in pain and can today understand that she was absolutely doing the best she could, and if she could have done it differently, she would have,” she said on the Healing with David Kessler podcast. 

“My most ardent wish for my mother is that when she transitioned, she was hopefully able to let go of any guilt or shame that she carried for any shortcomings she may have had in her parenting of my sister and me. Because certainly on my end, all was forgiven long ago,” she added.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.