Teddi Mellencamp says severe depression, intrusive thoughts followed ‘brutal’ COVID-19 while battling stage 4 cancer
On her podcast, Mellencamp and co‑host Erika Jayne discuss deepening mental‑health struggles after illness, medication changes and cancer metastasis.
Teddi Mellencamp said an intense case of COVID‑19 left her with severe depression, intrusive thoughts and "brain fog" as she continues treatment for stage 4 cancer.
Mellencamp, 44, described the episode and its mental‑health effects on Tuesday's installment of her "Diamonds in the Rough" podcast, which she co‑hosts with former "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Erika Jayne. Mellencamp said she called her psychiatrist, who adjusted her medications, and that her father had flown in an assistant to be with her. "I got Covid, which, I'm good now, but then I started feeling extreme, extreme depression," she said on the podcast, adding that she felt "hopeless" and "cried every single day last week."
Mellencamp said she did not reach out to many people while she was feeling low because she "hate[s] asking people for help" and felt "paralyzed." She also reported cognitive symptoms frequently described as "brain fog." Jayne, 54, responded by recounting her own mental‑health struggles following the collapse of her marriage and legal entanglements, saying she had experienced intrusive thoughts and long periods of despair.
The exchange included candid comments from Jayne about her past crisis: "I wanted to kill myself for a very long time and thought about it a lot and then didn't," she said on the podcast. Jayne told Mellencamp she understood "what it's like to feel that way" and urged her friend to recognize the gravity of what she has been through.
Mellencamp learned in February that her skin cancer had metastasized to her brain; she said it has since spread to her lungs. She filed for divorce from Edwin Arroyave in November 2024, two months before the brain metastasis diagnosis. On the podcast, Mellencamp said her doctors told her that feeling depressed and overwhelmed in the wake of such diagnoses and treatments is "normal," though she added that the reassurance did not make the experience less frightening.
Mellencamp and Jayne discussed the timeline of events and how the emotional impact of treatment and illness can surface or intensify months later. Jayne suggested that after a period of nonstop activity and hospital stays, the "seriousness and the gravity" of Mellencamp's situation may be "hitting [her] months later," a phenomenon clinicians recognize in some patients recovering from acute illness or intensive medical care.
On the podcast, Mellencamp said her psychiatrist changed her medication regimen and reiterated that "nobody really knows what [she's] going through," underscoring the isolation some patients report even when surrounded by family or caretakers. She described alternating periods of activity and immobilizing despair, and she acknowledged that COVID‑19 compounded the difficulties she was already facing as a person undergoing cancer treatment.
Mental‑health professionals say depression, anxiety and cognitive changes can follow both severe illness and major medical diagnoses, and they encourage patients to maintain contact with clinicians and support networks. Mellencamp and Jayne used the episode to speak frankly about suicidal thinking and the importance of recognizing and addressing those feelings. If you or someone you know is affected by suicidal ideation or a mental‑health crisis, call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.