Naomi Judd Mental Health History

Naomi Judd was an American country music singer and actress best known for being a member of the award-winning duo The Judds.

Naomi Judd was born on January 11, 1946, in Ashland, Kentucky, the United States to parents Pauline Ruth ‘Polly’ Oliver Judd and Charles Glen Judd. Her father owned a gas station.

Naomi Judd lost her brother Brian in 1965 due to leukaemia at the age of 17. She is the mother of singer Wynonna Judd and Ashley, a film and stage actress. She later formed the renowned singing duo known as The Judds alongside her daughter Wynonna Judd.

As a team, Naomi Judd and her daughter scored twenty top-10 hits (including fifteen at number one) and went undefeated for eight consecutive years at all three major country music awards shows. They won five Grammy Awards among many other accolades. She won a Grammy for country song of the year with the Judds’ hit “Love Can Build a Bridge”.

Naomi Judd’s time with the Judds suddenly ended after she was diagnosed with Hepatitis C. This was in 1991 at the height of their career where they had sold over 20 million albums and videos in seven years. Naomi Judd was given the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 1993.

Naomi Judd has appeared in More American Graffiti, A Holiday Romance, Naomi’s New Morning Can You Duet, The Killing Game, My Kitchen Rules and An Evergreen Christmas. She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame as a member of The Judds alongside her daughter Wynonna in 2021.

Naomi Judd Mental Health History

Naomi Judd had been diagnosed with Severe Treatment-Resistant Depression and anxiety. She was put through ineffective interventions like antidepressants, however, their ineffectiveness led her to develop suicidal thoughts as she felt hopeless.

Naomi Judd opened up about her struggles with mental illness in a memoir titled; called River of Time: My Descent into Depression and How I Emerged with Hope, which she published in December 2016. Naomi Judd stated that her depression began in childhood in an environment of harsh family secrets, the death of a young sibling, as well as absent emotional support within the family structure.

Naomi Judd had also survived being beaten and raped and later abandoned without financial support. She also suffered being a single mom with two young children.