Ashley Judd Shares Gut-Wrenching Details About Her Mother Naomi's Final Moments
Ashley Judd has been going through an emotional roller coaster since losing her mother, country music legend Naomi Judd in April to suicide. Over the years the "Love Can Build A Bridge" singer had openly discussed her journey with mental illness.
In her 2016 memoir, "River of Time: My Descent into Depression and How I Emerged With Hope," Naomi explained the "boulder-like weight of my severe treatment-resistant depression and terrifying panic attacks" (via USA Today). Naomi also further explained in a 2017 letter to NBC News that her past trauma contributed to her long battle with depression and anxiety. "Depression is partly genetic, and I have it on both sides of my family," the beloved country singer shared.
Ashley revealed on Instagram that her mother has passed. "Today, we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness," she wrote. "We are shattered. We are navigating profound grief and know that as we loved her, she was loved by her public." At the time of Naomi Judd's passing, the beloved country singer was 76 years old. Ashley Judd has been trying to pick up the pieces, and remain positive while coping with the loss of her mother. Since her passing, Ashley revealed was robbed of her privacy and interrogated during her final moments with the beloved singer.
Ashley Judd felt interrogated during her mother's final moments
Being in the public eye, Ashley Judd sympathizes with those that have had to deal with loss in the public eye and states that privacy should be a "basic human decency," instead of fueling a "gossip economy."
The "Double Jeopardy" actor revealed that the moments following her mother's passing have been difficult and she has been in "acute shock, trauma, panic, and distress," since. "In the immediate aftermath of a life-altering tragedy, the authorities show up to talk to us," she wrote in an essay for The New York Times in August, adding that she was too shaken to think through her answers or even begin to consider her own questions about privacy.
The Emmy-nominated actress later added that while she has been attempting to be helpful during her mother's final moments, she hoped it could have been handled differently and with more privacy and care. "I felt cornered and powerless as law enforcement officers began questioning me while the last of my mother's life was fading," she added. "I wanted to be comforting her, telling her how she was about to see her daddy and younger brother as she 'went away home,' as we say in Appalachia." Losing a loved one is very difficult, but Ashley said she is at "peace" with the "close-knit relationship" they had, per Today.
If you or someone you know is thinking of suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.