'I was dying of depression': Kendra Wilkinson shares harrowing experience of hospitalization amid mental health battle after divorce

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Reality TV personality Kendra Wilkinson has candidly shared her recent battle with a severe mental health crisis, revealing that she thought she was going to die during a panic attack.

In her first interview with People since being hospitalized in September, Wilkinson discussed hitting rock bottom, stating, "I was dying of depression. I was hitting the end of my life, and I went into psychosis. I felt like I wasn’t strong enough to live anymore."

Reality Star Kendra Wilkinson opens up about struggle with mental health

Known for her time on 'Girls Next Door' and her connection to the Playboy world, Wilkinson, now 38, is beginning to confront the damage caused by her past experiences. She emphasized the challenges of looking back at her 20s and acknowledged the need to face her demons. Wilkinson returned to the hospital a week after her initial emergency room visit and was placed on the antipsychotic medication Abilify during her second visit.

"It’s not easy to look back at my 20s. I’ve had to face my demons,” Wilkinson, 38, said a week after she went to the emergency room (her ex-husband, former NFL player Hank Baskett, was by her side).

The reality star also began outpatient therapy at UCLA, addressing unresolved trauma related to her time in Hugh Hefner's mansion and her 2019 divorce from former NFL player Hank Baskett. Wilkinson described this period as the lowest point in her life, expressing feelings of hopelessness and struggling to see a future. She had been grappling with personal and professional challenges, contemplating giving up and feeling lost in her depression.

“It was the lowest place I’ve ever been in my life. I felt like I had no future. I couldn’t see in front of my depression,” says Wilkinson, who explains that she had been struggling to find a fresh start in real estate. “I was giving up and I couldn’t find the light. I had no hope.”

In the weeks leading up to her hospitalization, Wilkinson had not eaten or slept, and her head was spinning. She has previously spoken about being placed in a psychiatric facility as a teenager after swallowing half a dozen pills. She kept asking herself: “How am I going to succeed?” “What am I doing wrong in my life?” “Do I give up?”

Kendra Wilkinson faces isolation, shame, and mental health struggles following divorce

Reality TV star Kendra Wilkinson has opened up about the challenges she faced, including isolation and shame, following her public divorce from former NFL player Hank Baskett.

Wilkinson shared that she often felt alone and struggled with trust issues, cutting ties with close friends after her divorce. 

Attempting to rebuild her image and establish a career in real estate, Wilkinson faced setbacks, including the non-renewal of her show, 'Kendra Sells Hollywood,' after two seasons. The reality star, who is a mother to Hank IV, 14, and Alijah Mary, 9, expressed the difficulty of navigating single motherhood with limited support.

“It was so scary for me to go through it. I wasn’t focusing on myself or my mental health. Here I was a single mom and I've been alone for years now. But it's also easy to feel like the world is caving in on you. I was trying to fight it on my own. I was trying to cure it on my own and you can't do that,” she says. “I was isolating, hiding, blaming myself, blaming the world. I was spiraling out of control and I felt like I wasn't strong enough to survive."

In September, Wilkinson finally sought medical assistance after suffering a panic attack. "There was a moment where I looked at my ex-husband and I said, Take me to the hospital."