Tamra Judge Tearfully Reveals ‘I’m on the Spectrum’ After Being Told in Therapy

Tamra Judge is sharing some personal health news.

During the latest episode of her Two Ts In A Pod podcast, released on Tuesday, Oct. 15, Judge, 57, got emotional as she revealed that she is “on the spectrum” after learning of the diagnosis in therapy. 

In a clip posted on Instagram from the episode, Judge told her cohost Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave, “I just did my first therapy session … Let's just say I found out something pretty big about myself that I didn't know.” 

“Now I need to know. Like, what?” Mellencamp, 43, responded, to which Judge replied, “I am on the spectrum.” 

“Oh my gosh, Tam,” said Mellencamp. “Don't make me cry,” Judge added as she began tearing up. “My biggest problem is working through trauma that I had in my life.”

The term being “on the spectrum” refers to Autism spectrum disorder. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, this is a neurological and developmental condition that impacts a person’s behavioral, social and communication patterns, with a wide range of symptoms and severity.

The Real Housewives of Orange County star continued to say on the podcast that she now understands why she reacts the way she does in particular moments following her diagnosis.

“I just thought that things were black and white to me that, you know, I grew up with a family that didn't have a lot of empathy or love or whatever, so that just transpired that onto, you know, my adult life,” she said. 

“But after talking and going through everything and my emotions, and I have a hard time with empathy and feeling other people's feelings … there's a reason why,” she added, telling Mellencamp she’d share this with her off-camera. 

At the time of recording, Judge said she hadn’t yet told her husband Eddie Judge after just finding out beforehand. 

“Certain things. Like, [my therapist] asked me, ‘You have really bad social anxiety, and you are very much like, I just wanna be at home’ … And it's because the anxiety that I have when I talk to people and how I make it through the show is drinking,” she continued.

The reality TV star said moving forward that “there's gonna be have to be a lot of huge changes” and that it’s going to be “a rough few months.” 

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Judge has previously been candid in sharing updates about her health and surgeries.

On Sept. 1, she posted a video on Instagram detailing her recent brow lift as she discussed having a facelift seven years prior. Meanwhile, in October 2023, Judge revealed on social media that she was hospitalized for an intestinal obstruction after experiencing stomach pain.

"Praying I won't need surgery," she said at the time.

In 2012, Judge also underwent a life-saving emergency operation to remove a strangulated hernia that was affecting a portion of her intestines.