Ashley Judd says mother Naomi died by suicide, urges others to seek help
NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Ashley Judd encouraged people to seek help for their mental health and talked about her grieving process after the loss of her mother, country star Naomi Judd.
In an interview aired on “Good Morning America” on Thursday, the movie star said she wanted to address her mother’s struggle with depression. Judd said she was with her mother at her home in Tennessee on April 30, the day Naomi Judd died.
Judd also encouraged anyone who was having thoughts of harming themselves to reach out to The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
Naomi Judd died at the age of 76, a day before she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame with her duo partner and daughter Wynonna Judd. In a statement provided to The Associated Press, the family said they had lost her to “the disease of mental illness.”
“When we’re talking about mental illness, it’s very important, and to be clear and to make the distinction between our loved one and the disease,” Judd said in the interview. “It lies. It’s savage. And, you know, my mother, our mother, couldn’t hang on until she was inducted into the Hall of Fame by her peers. I mean, that is the level of catastrophe of what was going on inside of her because ... the regard in which they held her couldn’t penetrate into her heart.”
Ashley Judd said that her mother shot herself with a gun, but asked for privacy on other details of the death.
“I really accepted the love my mother was capable of giving me because I knew she was fragile,” Judd said.