HEALTH'Weak' Tamra Judge Says Her 'Mental Health Is Not Strong Enough' After Revealing She's 'on the Spectrum'
Tamra Judge didn't receive the best reaction when revealing she's 'on the spectrum.'
Tamra Judge isn't handling the hate well after facing backlash for revealing she's "on the spectrum" during the Tuesday, October 15, episode of her and Teddi Mellencamp's "Two Ts in a Pod" podcast.
The Real Housewives of Orange County star took to Instagram with a lengthy message after being slammed by social media users who found her remarks were insensitive to those living with autism.
The reality star took to Instagram with a lengthy message for haters in response to backlash she faced from her confession.
"I started therapy because this year had been really hard on me. I started feeling really insecure, I was having intrusive thoughts, and I didn’t wanna leave my house unless I had to. I even considered just being admitted into a mental health facility," her message — which she displayed in white text over a green background, as well as in the caption of her post — read.
She continued: "In my conversations with my therapist, who I’ve known for years, we talked about a lot over the course of two hours. And she told me that many of the things about me — like how I process information, my sensory issues, my social anxiety, my aversion to eye contact with new people, my not wanting to be out of my routine, etc. — were all signs of being on the spectrum."
"Now, 'On the spectrum' it’s such a broad term. I don’t really understand it fully, and my therapist told me more evaluation was needed," Judge noted. "But when I sat down at the mic to record my podcast 15 minutes later and my head was spinning from what she had said. I had no time to process things, or even talk to my family — I was just back at work. And I was so emotional, I just blurted it out."
"Afterwards, my instinct was to have it removed. But I’m used to being so open with everything in my life, I thought against it. Now, I wish I had. I just want to take people through the journey with me as I’ve always done, but I realize now I spoke too soon publicly, and that processing this with such an onslaught of negative comments has been horrible," the Bravo personality mentioned.
Tamra Judge said her mental health 'is not strong enough' to handle the negativity toward her.
Judge added: "If you know me, you know I don’t like to look weak or play the victim. I also hate labels, just as much as I hate excuses. But I’m working on myself — not a TV show; to be a better person for me and the people around me. This isn’t some storyline. It’s my real life.
"I have past trauma that is deep and painful. This is something I’ve suppressed for 15 years. But I’m finally getting the help I need, and I’m proud of myself for that," she said. "So as much as I appreciate the amazing people who reached out, I think it’s best to move forward more privately until I get to a better mental space. My mental health is just not strong enough where I can be judged and hated on right now. Yes, I’m admitting I’m weak. And I’m okay with that right now."
Judge spoke out after her podcast confession triggered a slew of posts against the reality star.
"If there ever was a worse case of playing the mental illness card, #TamraJudge has just won. What an insult to everyone on the spectrum. At nearly sixty you should know the difference between being mean, nasty and vindictive. #RHOC," one person expressed via X (formerly named Twitter)."
Another declared: "Tamra Judge can go to h--- for this, as someone who is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, I am absolutely appalled with this disgusting move. #RHOC."
Tamra Judge revealed she was 'on the spectrum' during the latest episode of her and Teddi Mellencamp's podcast.
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The confession was initially made in a teaser for the episode shared to Instagram, as Judge informed Mellencamp, 43: "I just did my first therapy session … Let's just say I found out something pretty big about myself that I didn't know."
"Now I need to know. Like, what?" The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star asked, prompting Judge to admit: "I am on the spectrum."
Mellencamp was shocked by the news, stating, "oh my gosh, Tam."
Judge became slightly emotional, telling her friend, "don't make me cry," as her eyes began to water.
Tamra Judge and Teddi Mellencamp co-host the podcast 'Two Ts in a Pod.'
"My biggest problem is working through trauma that I had in my life," she noted.
According to the Mayo Clinic, the phrase "on the spectrum" refers to autism spectrum disorder — a "condition related to brain development that impacts how a person perceives and socializes with others, causing problems in social interaction and communication."
"The term 'spectrum' in autism spectrum disorder refers to the wide range of symptoms and severity," the healthcare company's site added.
While discovering her diagnosis seemed to be a bit difficult for Judge to process, she stated on the podcast it has allowed her to finally understand why she acts a certain way depending on the situation she's presented with.
"I just thought that things were black and white to me that, you know, I grew up with a family that didn't have a lot of empathy or love or whatever, so that just transpired that onto, you know, my adult life," the Vena CBD co-founder explained. "But after talking and going through everything and my emotions, and I have a hard time with empathy and feeling other people's feelings … there's a reason why."
Tamra promised Teddi she'd go into further detail about things once they were off-camera, noting she had yet to tell her husband of 11 years, Eddie Judge, 51, at the time the blonde duo recorded their podcast episode after only finding out moments before.
She continued: "Certain things. Like, [my therapist] asked me, 'You have really bad social anxiety, and you are very much like, I just wanna be at home' … And it's because the anxiety that I have when I talk to people and how I make it through the show is drinking."
Going forward, Tamra acknowledged how "there's gonna be have to be a lot of huge changes" and that she is in for "a rough few months." as she adjusts to her new lifestyle.
