Matthew Perry became addicted to Vicodin after a jet skiing accident and later confessed to taking 20 to 30 pills a day before his his initial 28-day stay in 1997 at Hazelden Foundation rehabilitation centre.
In 2000 he was hospitalized for pancreatitis due to excessive alcohol consumption, which led to a second stay in rehab at the Promises Center in 2001. ‘In my case, it was hard living and drinking hard and eating poorly,’ he said. Eating poorly? Does that drive people to rehab?
During the Friends finale interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2004, Matthew discussed his decision to seek help. ‘It actually had very little to do with courage at first. It’s kind of a life or death situation,’ he said.
‘So what saved me was finally getting a bit of clarity in my life and realizing that this was it. If I keep living my life this way, there isn’t going to be any life. So you ultimately… I guess the keyword is “surrender,” and you realize that you need help, so you finally ask for it and you realize the ” Matthew Perry Plan” sucks.’
His Friends co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer rallied around him during Matthew’s previous battles with addiction.
Perry said of his castmates: ‘The most loving group of people who are saying every day, “We love you, can we help,” doesn’t really work until you realize you have to.’ ‘It hit me like a flash. It was like “Oh! Look what I’ve been doing for the last few years of my life.”‘
His new show Mr Sunshine, which he created, co-produces, and stars in, premiered in February.
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