Naomi Judd’s Daughter Ashley Discusses Her Childhood & Recognizing Her Mother’s Battle With Mental Health: “I Know She Was In Pain”

Naomi Judd country music

Back in April, we lost a country music legend, Naomi Judd to a long battle with her own mental health. Just a day before her induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the 76-year-old tragically took her own life.

With that being said, Naomi’s daughter, Ashley, recently spoke out about her mother’s struggles growing up, and how it was hard for her detect when she was younger, but the signs were there.

She discussed it with grief expert David Kessler on his podcast, Healing with David Kessler, according to Billboard:

“I look back on my childhood and I realize I grew up with a mom who had an undiagnosed and untreated mental illness.

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.”

However, she also acknowledged that she wasn’t the reason for her mother’s struggles, and there was really no way for her to help it or “cure it,” and her mother was doing the best she could.

With that thought, it brought her a sense of peace when her mother passed on:

“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, all was forgiven long ago.”

The Judd’s were officially inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame the Sunday after, in the wake of this tragedy, where Ashley and Wynonna gave an emotional speech about their late mother and how much they love and will miss her.

Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text Crisis Text Line at 741741 if you or someone you know is considering suicide.

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