Kendra Wilkinson is peeling back the curtain on her battle with depression.
The former “Girls Next Door” star, 38, said she went to the hospital last September but returned a week later. She said at the time she was put on the antipsychotic drug Abilify and she was receiving outpatient treatment three times a week to explore issues related to her life. She is divorced from Hugh Hefner's Playboy mansion and former NFL player Hank Baskett.
“I was dying of depression,” she said. told the people. “I was nearing the end of my life and became mentally ill. I felt like I didn't have the strength to live anymore.”
“Playboy really messed up my life,” said Wilkinson, who rose to fame as one of Hugh Hefner's girlfriends on the reality show “Girls Next Door.” She said her depression strangled her and made her feel helpless.
“It was the lowest point in my life. I felt like I had no future. The depression made me unable to see what was ahead,” she said. “Even when I was about to give up, I couldn't find the light. There was no hope.”
“Looking back on my 20s is not easy. I had to face my demons,” she added about her past.
Wilkinson said she learned it was okay to ask for help.
“Anxiety and depression are real and it's important to seek help whenever you feel like the world is getting to you,” she said. “I thought I was strong enough. I thought I was strong enough to walk in this world. I'm Kendra. I'm Kendra Wilkinson. I got this. I thought I was strong enough to walk in this world. You can walk strong. You don't need therapy. You don't need therapy. And I was wrong.”
Wilkinson was married to Baskett from 2009 until their divorce in 2018. They are also parents to sons Hank IV, 14, and Aliyah, 9. She also said that her insistence on dealing with her problems on her own took her to a dark place before she changed direction. A basket that lends a hand.
“I had been battling depression and anxiety for a long time, and I was trying to fight it on my own. I was trying to fix it on my own. And I can't do that,” she said.
“And I hit rock bottom. I tried to help myself and ended up hitting rock bottom. I was isolated, hiding, trying — you know, blaming myself, blaming the world. There was a moment when I finally looked at my ex-husband and said, “Take me to the hospital.” And that day he took me to the hospital. ”
Wilkinson said it was a turning point for both her and basketball.
“Accepting help that day and having Hank drive me to the hospital was a big day in both of our lives,” she said.
“It was a big day for my family and my kids. I didn't realize how much I was suffering and how people looked at me until I got there. I really looked in the mirror and said, 'Help. I had to think, 'I need that.'
Therapy helped her realize that it was important to work on herself while accepting the fact that her depression was something she would always live with.
“I had a great two months focusing on therapy and mental health,” she said.
“I took the right medication. I went to therapy three days a week and really worked on my depression issues. Depression doesn't just go away. It's a practice. It stays with me throughout my life. I think it's something that remains. So you have to learn how to deal with it. You have to learn to accept it. And it's part of me. It becomes part of me. , that's fine.”
Wilkinson has previously opened up about her own struggles, and today in 2021 she spoke about how she found herself at a crossroads following her divorce, becoming a single mother and settling into a new career in real estate.
“I spent three years fighting against myself to be here today,” she said.
She also said she “spent years in silence and solitude” before working on a new chapter.
“It's been a very difficult few years in my life. A completely different person has come out. I feel like I walked through fire to get here today,” she said.
