‘F—, It Didn’t Work’: Paris Jackson Details Multiple Suicide Attempts & Mental Health Struggles

Paris Jackson has opened up about her long and difficult mental health journey, including struggles with addiction, trauma, and suicidal thoughts. Michael Jackson’s daughter reflected on some of the darkest periods of her life and the tools that have helped her move forward.

WARNING: The article contains mention of suicide attempt and drug addiction.

Paris Jackson reveals her mental health journey

Paris Jackson has been candid about her struggles with mental health and addiction. In a new interview on Jay Shetty’s On Purpose podcast, she revealed that she first attempted to take her own life at 15, after beginning to experiment with drugs and alcohol.

Jackson mentioned substance abuse and untreated mental illness became unbearable. After Michael Jackson’s death, Paris and her brothers stayed with family. She was later sent to a treatment center in Utah.

However, Jackson said the experience left her with additional trauma. After nearly two years there, she said, “I definitely left with more PTSD than I went in there with. [I] had nightmares for two or three years about going back… I was one of the lucky ones where we didn’t experience physical or sexual abuse, but there was definitely a lot of psychological, emotional, spiritual abuse that happened there.”

Years later, Jackson faced another crisis after quitting heroin. She was still drinking, using cocaine, and smoking marijuana. She barely slept before another suicide attempt. She took a large amount of medication with alcohol and survived. “That was one of the first attempts where I’m like, ‘F—, it didn’t work,'” Jackson recalled.

Weeks later, Jackson hit rock bottom with alcohol, which pushed her toward sobriety. However, suicidal thoughts continued, as she went back and forth between wanting to leave and staying alive. She said, “I’m gonna end up, like, kind of paralyzed. I would just think of all of these ideas and then how it would go wrong, and I’m like, ‘I’m stuck here.”

However, she eventually focused on experiencing life instead. “The good or the bad, the light and the heavy, these are all things that are part of the experience, and I’m here to experience the entire spectrum. I want all the feelings, ‘cause that’s what I’m taking with me when I leave.”

Jackson uses therapy, meditation, and prayer to manage her mental health. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) later brought relief and inspired her new album cover. She said, “I think happiness is temporary. I think pain is temporary.”

The singer continued, “And so knowing that I may get sad again, and I may go through a dark time again, hopefully will be bringing the information with me this time of ‘there is a way out. You’ve done it before. You will do it again.'”

Source: Comingsoon.net