Naomi Judd Died

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would think her family was so acutely aware of her struggles that they would have done everything in their power to prevent access to firearms. So remove them all from the house, lock them up, etc. I’m sorry, but something does not add up here. If she was so well cared for, if all her family members were so keen on getting her help, etc., then they would have made sure she did not have access to guns.

When a person is determined to end their life, they find a way.

This statement is so often repeated and absolutely untrue. Proven untrue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why was Naomi allowed access to firearms if she was suffering from such deep depression?

I thought this as well. With the exception of defenestration if you live in a high rise, death by firearm takes no preparation (or chance to change your mind). And rarely survivable.

This. Only suicide by firearm can be a bad split second decision. It’s tragic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would think her family was so acutely aware of her struggles that they would have done everything in their power to prevent access to firearms. So remove them all from the house, lock them up, etc. I’m sorry, but something does not add up here. If she was so well cared for, if all her family members were so keen on getting her help, etc., then they would have made sure she did not have access to guns.

When a person is determined to end their life, they find a way.

This statement is so often repeated and absolutely untrue. Proven untrue.

I do truly believe that there are people who are terminally mentally ill. We don't have good treatments for most of it. instead of allowing them to leave peacefully, we force them to either die horribly or walk around living with it. If someone was in physical pain such that we wanted to die we would all be kind of cool with that, but somehow we expect people with mental pain to suffer. No I'm not talking about all people with mental illness or depression. The great majority find a way to make it work but there are those who cannot and I think they should be able and helped to leave as and when they wish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I appreciate the level of compassion Ashley shows her mother, despite how awful it must have been to be the one who found her.

Me too!! When I listened to the Diane Sawyer interview about her memories visiting home, going in the kitchen door, receiving her mother's hugs, it made me bawl. She says she expected something like this - can you imagine waiting for that shoe to drop? My mom had a battle with terminal cancer (so I constantly felt the foreboding) but what Ashley describes seems very different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I appreciate the level of compassion Ashley shows her mother, despite how awful it must have been to be the one who found her.

This. I feel for the PP in this thread who's clearly been harmed by suicide, but I also feel tremendously sad for the person who ends their life this way. It's possible to hold both of those thoughts simultaneously, and one kind of pain doesn't negate the other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I appreciate the level of compassion Ashley shows her mother, despite how awful it must have been to be the one who found her.

Me too!! When I listened to the Diane Sawyer interview about her memories visiting home, going in the kitchen door, receiving her mother's hugs, it made me bawl. She says she expected something like this - can you imagine waiting for that shoe to drop? My mom had a battle with terminal cancer (so I constantly felt the foreboding) but what Ashley describes seems very different.

Her mom looked so very fragile in her last public appearances. She looks heavily medicated. They probably thought touring would help her as she said she felt alive singing. What I do not understand is the firearm. What was a firearm doing in their home. When you have a mentally ill person this seems to be a bad idea. Her statement about a friend coming over for comfort pretty much says how much she was struggling. This is all very very very sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I appreciate the level of compassion Ashley shows her mother, despite how awful it must have been to be the one who found her.

Me too!! When I listened to the Diane Sawyer interview about her memories visiting home, going in the kitchen door, receiving her mother's hugs, it made me bawl. She says she expected something like this - can you imagine waiting for that shoe to drop? My mom had a battle with terminal cancer (so I constantly felt the foreboding) but what Ashley describes seems very different.

Her mom looked so very fragile in her last public appearances. She looks heavily medicated. They probably thought touring would help her as she said she felt alive singing. What I do not understand is the firearm. What was a firearm doing in their home. When you have a mentally ill person this seems to be a bad idea. Her statement about a friend coming over for comfort pretty much says how much she was struggling. This is all very very very sad.

+1. Cannot imagine what they were thinking having firearms in the home. This outcome was clearly facilitated by ease of access to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would think her family was so acutely aware of her struggles that they would have done everything in their power to prevent access to firearms. So remove them all from the house, lock them up, etc. I’m sorry, but something does not add up here. If she was so well cared for, if all her family members were so keen on getting her help, etc., then they would have made sure she did not have access to guns.

When a person is determined to end their life, they find a way.

This statement is so often repeated and absolutely untrue. Proven untrue.

I do truly believe that there are people who are terminally mentally ill. We don't have good treatments for most of it. instead of allowing them to leave peacefully, we force them to either die horribly or walk around living with it. If someone was in physical pain such that we wanted to die we would all be kind of cool with that, but somehow we expect people with mental pain to suffer. No I'm not talking about all people with mental illness or depression. The great majority find a way to make it work but there are those who cannot and I think they should be able and helped to leave as and when they wish.

+100

[Anonymous]

I don't know much about meningitis, but brain damage can happen with it. I wonder if her history of meningitis and aging caused her mental health to deteriorate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I appreciate the level of compassion Ashley shows her mother, despite how awful it must have been to be the one who found her.

Me too!! When I listened to the Diane Sawyer interview about her memories visiting home, going in the kitchen door, receiving her mother's hugs, it made me bawl. She says she expected something like this - can you imagine waiting for that shoe to drop? My mom had a battle with terminal cancer (so I constantly felt the foreboding) but what Ashley describes seems very different.

Her mom looked so very fragile in her last public appearances. She looks heavily medicated. They probably thought touring would help her as she said she felt alive singing. What I do not understand is the firearm. What was a firearm doing in their home. When you have a mentally ill person this seems to be a bad idea. Her statement about a friend coming over for comfort pretty much says how much she was struggling. This is all very very very sad.

+1. Cannot imagine what they were thinking having firearms in the home. This outcome was clearly facilitated by ease of access to it.

Every farm in the south has guns. Guarantee the husband wanted them available, part of the culture there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know much about meningitis, but brain damage can happen with it. I wonder if her history of meningitis and aging caused her mental health to deteriorate.

Naomi Judd had hepatitis, not meningitis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some weird comments previously that I won’t quote but will answer.

Firearms suicide absolutely IS the most effective means of suicide, if you are basing that on successful achievement of death. More than half of all the 45,000+ suicides in America last year were suicides by firearms. This is one of the most compelling reasons to limit access to firearms. I personally don’t think firearms should be kept in any home where someone is experiencing mental illness or even addiction because often mental illness is underlying the addiction but family members are unaware. Suicidal ideation very often doesn’t show outwardly.

And yes, suicidal thoughts do pass - almost always. As someone who has struggled with depression and cptsd since my early teens, and has survived multiple suicide attempts, I’ve spent a lot of time recently studying suicidology, which is the study of suicide and how it manifests in individuals and culturally. Many folks don’t realize that there is a spectrum of suicidal thinking from ideation which is thinking about being better off dead and suicidal plan and/or impulse which is much more serious. A lot of people with mental illness think a lot about wanting to die to escape the pain of their condition, but the impulse to actually act is often very fleeting. People who have survived suicide attempts are often very grateful for their survival - but may still experience suicidal ideation. It does make a difference to make the means less readily available, and to limit access to the most extreme means - like firearms and bridges (suicide nets have been installed on some bridges to prevent their use as a means to suicide). I have a good friend who survived a suicide attempt by firearm, was profoundly wounded and now struggles with all the effects of TBI. He’s grateful to be alive and yet still struggles with depression. Mental illness is very complicated. We should talk about it so much more and we should talk about suicide so much more because it is a leading cause of death and is rising steadily especially among young people.

I’m broken hearted over Naomi Judd. I have always liked the Judds and am deeply grateful to them for sharing their own struggles with mental illness so openly - I am certain that they touched a lot of people and helped them to feel less alone in their struggles. Losing Naomi to the beast of depression is wrenching to her fellow sufferers who battle the same demons every day. I really, really wish she hadn’t kept firearms in her house. I stopped keeping one myself because I feared having it there in the closet when in the deepest pain and when the impulse comes.

I hope the family sharing this information makes people think about the firearms in their homes. Statistics have long established that a firearm kept for protection in the home is more likely to harm someone in the home than to be used against an intruder. At very least the firearms and ammunition should be locked away and not easily accessible especially if someone in the home is suffering mental health issues.

Thank you for this. It was helpful in understanding this more.

[Anonymous]

Was the husband still in the picture? There’s barely any mention of him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Was the husband still in the picture? There’s barely any mention of him.

Yes, but he's not a celebrity and avoids the public eye.

[Anonymous]

I am reading her book “River Of Time” which she authored back in 2016.

Knowing that she later killed herself w/a firearm - it is so tragic reading 📖 this book where she discusses her personal battle w/depression & anxiety.

She has many references to her ancestors, their mental illnesses, suicides as well as homicides.

She also talks about how much she considered shooting herself along w/jumping off a local bridge close to her farm home.

She was inspiring in life even though she suffered immensely.
Hope she now is finally experiencing the peace that she fought so hard to find/acquire during her living yrs.
🕊🕊🕊