Actress Taraji P. Henson Reveals She Contemplated Suicide During The COVID-19 Pandemic.
Hollywood actress Taraji P. Henson has opened up about the “dark times” she had during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking on her Facebook watch series, ‘Peace of mind with Taraji’, she said she contemplated taking her own life as she discussed mental breakdown with Psychologist Dr. LaShonda Green, and co-host Tracie Jade.
She talked about how the “dark moment” she faced during the pandemic left her feeling withdrawn and isolated.
“During this pandemic, it’s been hard on all of us, and I had a moment. I had a dark moment,” she announced. “I was in a dark place. For a couple of days, I couldn’t get out of the bed, I didn’t care. That’s not me. Then, I started having thoughts about ending it. It happened two nights in a row.”
Before this, Taraji had mentioned she purchased a gun. According to her, she remembered thinking to herself; “I could go in there right now and just end it all, because I want it to be over.”
She said she believed her 26 year old son, Marcell Johnson would get over it because he’s an adult.
She realized she needed to talk about her feelings after she began withdrawing and stopped responding to concerned loved ones who reached out.
“Finally,” the Hollywood star mentioned, “I’m talking to one of my girlfriends and I knew, I was smart enough to say, ‘I have to say it.’ Because a part of me was ashamed. I was like, ‘I don’t want them to think I’m crazy. I don’t want them to obsess over me or think they gotta come and sit on me.'”
“So one day I just blurted it out to my girlfriend. She called me in the morning and I was like, ‘You know I thought about killing myself last night. Oh my god, I feel so much better. I’m not gonna do it now.”
The Oscar nominee explained, “…what scared me, is that I did it two nights in a row. And the thoughts kept coming. Now I started think about how. At first, it was like, I don’t want to be here. And then I started thinking about going and getting the gun. And that’s why when I woke up the next morning, and I blurted it out. Because I felt like after a while it was going to take over me and it was going to become a plan because that’s how strong my brain is. Our thoughts… They’re that powerful.”
