In a candid new interview, Matthew Perry opened up about his crippling struggle with drugs and alcohol.
The Friends actor shared personal details in both an interview with People and his new memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.
Matthew shared painful details of his hardships and admitted that he spent several weeks in a coma.
His autobiography begins with the admission that, at the age of 49, he was on the verge of death a few years before.
Due to narcotic abuse, his colon ruptured, and he spent weeks battling for his life. Five months were spent in the hospital and nine more were spent with a colostomy bag.
The physicians informed my family that I had a 2% chance of living, which Matthew acknowledged. I was placed on a device known as an ECMO machine, which manages your heart and lungs’ breathing for you. That is referred to be a Hail Mary. Nobody gets over that.
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In his new memoir, Matthew has shared more details about his life.
He struggled with his alcoholism for many of the years he played Chandler Bing on the popular sitcom.
Matthew asserted that he believed he could manage it and that there would be extended stretches of sobriety.
But he later admits that he had dropped to 128 pounds and was using 55 Vicodin per day.
He said, “I didn’t know how to stop.” “I would begin packing if the police showed up at my house and threatened to put me in jail if I drank tonight. Because the illness and addiction are progressive, I was unable to stop. Therefore, as you age, it only gets worse.
David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matthew LeBlanc, and other cast members, according to Matthew, “were understanding, and they were patient,” but in the end, he could only help himself.
He has attended rehab no less than 15 times, and despite the fact that he is still fighting his demons, he admitted to People that he is “very healthy now.” He then cracked a joke by saying, “I’ve got to stop going to the gym much more because I don’t want to be able to exclusively play superheroes. But no, I’m actually in fairly good health right now.
The actor didn’t say how long he’s been clean at this point, but he did say: “It’s crucial, but losing your sobriety doesn’t mean you lose all that time and education.
“Only your sober date changes; everything else remains the same. As long as you were able to battle your way back without dying, you retain everything you previously learned.
In order to keep him on track, he also has 14 surgical scars on his stomach. He continued, “That’s a lot of reminders to be sober.” “I only have to glance down,” I said.
He is now concentrating on saving other people and believes that by sharing his story, he can do so.
He claims that out of the five patients who were placed on an ECMO machine that night, only he survived. “So, why is the key question? Why was I selected? There must be a motive of some sort.
I’m a genuinely thankful guy, he continued. I’m glad to be alive, that much is certain. And that allows me the freedom to act however I like.