Lisa Rinna recently opened up about a deeply painful chapter in her life—her battle with severe postpartum depression following the births of her daughters, Delilah and Amelia. In a raw and emotional interview on the podcast Let’s Not Talk About the Husband, the actress and reality TV star got honest about how dark things became for her and her husband, actor Harry Hamlin.
Now 61, Rinna described the months after giving birth as being trapped under a “huge dark cloud.” After her first daughter was born, those feelings of emptiness and despair lasted for 15 months. But it was after her second child’s birth that things got even more frightening. Hamlin, 73, shared that Rinna’s mental health declined so sharply she once warned him to “keep the knives in the drawer,” saying she might hurt him. “You said, ‘I’m gonna kill you,’” he recalled. That’s when he urged her to immediately call her doctor.
Rinna said she doesn’t remember saying that, but she vividly remembers the terrifying symptoms: intense hallucinations and destructive thoughts—not toward her children, but about herself and others. “I needed to take the knives out of the house,” she said. “And I also had horrible visions of driving the car into a brick wall.”
These are examples of severe postpartum depression, which can include overwhelming sadness, mood swings, intrusive thoughts, and in rare cases, psychosis. Rinna described that time as “completely psychotic,” and eventually, she sought professional help. After being prescribed antidepressants, her symptoms began to ease, and she felt like herself again.
Now, Rinna is speaking out to raise awareness. Her message to new mothers: you are not alone—and you don’t need to suffer in silence. She’s urging women to seek help and support without shame.
Both Rinna and Hamlin are well-known for their work in television—she starred in Days of Our Lives, Melrose Place, and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, while he is known for Clash of the Titans, L.A. Law, and Mad Men.
