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Harry Hamlin recalled his wife, Lisa Rinna, threatening to kill him while battling postpartum depression.
“I had horrible postpartum depression, but I didn’t know it,” Rinna, 61, shared during Friday’s episode of the couple’s “Let’s Not Talk About the Husband” podcast.
“I didn’t know what it was. When you have your first baby, you don’t know. You just don’t know.”
Rinna said she felt “absolutely hopeless” as she struggled with PPD for 15 months after her and her husband’s eldest daughter, Delilah Hamlin, 26, was born in June 1998.
The “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” alum described the feeling as having “a huge dark cloud” over her at all times.
The depression returned with a vengeance after she welcomed their youngest daughter, Amelia Hamlin, 23, in June 2001.
That’s when Harry, 73, really became worried.
“You said, ‘I’m gonna kill you,’” the actor revealed. “And I said, ‘You better call [your OB-GYN] right now.’ You said, ‘You better watch out. I feel like killing you.’ You said, ‘Keep the knives in the drawer.’”
Though Rinna didn’t exactly remember threatening Harry’s life, his story did line up with her experience.
“I was having horrible hallucinations of killing people, and I needed to take the knives out of the house,” she admitted. “And I also had horrible visions of driving the car into a brick wall.”
According to the Office on Women’s Health, women who struggle with PPD often experience feelings of sadness, hopelessness, anger or volatility. In extreme cases, new moms may experience hallucinations or intrusive thoughts about harming their baby, themselves or others.
Though Rinna’s PPD the second time around was extreme, she made sure to note that she never experienced any negative feelings toward either of her daughters.
“I did not have horrible visions about hurting the baby in any way, shape or form. It wasn’t about that,” she explained. “It was about hopelessness, darkest depression and these horrible visions, hallucinations.”
The former soap opera star kept thinking about “the knives” and “driving the car into a brick wall,” confessing, “Looking back, I was completely psychotic.”
Rinna was eventually prescribed antidepressants, which “worked instantly” and “changed the game.”
She urged new moms who are suffering, especially those suffering in silence, to ask for help.
If you or someone you know needs postpartum support, call the Postpartum Support International Helpline at 1-800-944-4773.
