In her new memoir "The Next Day," Melinda French Gates reportedly discusses the nightmares and panic attacks that led up to her 2021 divorce.

Still, as Melinda tells PEOPLE, "It was important for me to be real.""Hopefully," she adds, "it might be helpful to someone else.” Although there had been “difficult periods” with Bill before, Melinda writes in her book that by the end of 2019 she was having nightmares about a beautiful house collapsing all around her — and then waking up in a panic night after night.

Melinda French Gates, whose 27-year marriage to Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates ended in 2021, shared that she and her ex-husband are still “friendly” and see each other from time to time.