Topics: Celebrity, Drugs, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mental Health
Content warning: This article contains discussions of depression, suicide and drug use
Jada Pinkett Smith has opened up about how her son saved her life by introducing her to psychedelics.
The Matrix Reloaded star, 52, revealed that she had been struggling with depression and had even considered taking her own life at one point.
Jada claims her 25-year-old son, Jaden, introduced her to the plant-based drug which helped her through the dark period.
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As the actor promoted her new memoir, Worthy, she gave a candid interview about how she’d suffered from mental health issues throughout her life.
Ironically, it was when Jada at the height of her fame - with the glamour, money and success unable to stop the numbness she felt.
“While I was really living the dream, I hit a huge wall - a massive amount of depression,” Jada told People, adding: “I think that I looked at having outside sources to supplement for the voids that I was feeling inside.”
At her lowest, Jada fought with her inner demons and even began to plan the end of her life.
“When I turned 40, I was in so much pain. I couldn’t figure a way out besides death. So I made a plan,” the star confessed, revealing that she even looked for places where she could have ‘an accident’ - hoping her children wouldn’t think she’d committed suicide.
However, it was a conversation with Jaden that turned things around, with him introducing his mom to ayahuasca after hearing about it from a friend.
Often used in spiritual ceremonies, the plant-based drug is brewed as a tea with users ‘guided’ through the hallucinations they experience.
Remembering the moment Jaden saved her life, Jada explained: “And so when Jaden came to me that day and he's like, ‘Mom, you got to to hear this. My friend’s dad, he had this experience. I need you to come in here and listen.’ I'm like, ‘I'm there. What is it?’ And it opened up a whole new world of healing that I'm so grateful for.”
“Ayahuasca helped me, it gave me a new intimate relationship with myself that I had never had before,” she said, adding that her ‘suicidal thoughts completely went away’.
While the A-Lister family are pretty open about the use of psychedelics, we should warn that drugs are illegal in most parts of the US.
If you want friendly, confidential advice about drugs, you can call American Addiction Centers on (888) 830-7624 24 hours, seven days a week, or contact them through their website.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available through Mental Health America. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. You can also reach Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741.
You can also call 1-800-985-5990 or text “TalkWithUs” to 66746 at the SAMHSA Disaster Distress Helpline.
