Actress Taraji P Henson thought of suicide during pandemic
Actress says she couldn’t get out bed and was in a dark place
Actress Taraji P Henson has opened up reaching a dark place during the COVID-19 pandemic and dealing with suicidal thoughts.
The ‘Empire’ actress was speaking on her Facebook Watch talk show ‘Peace of Mind With Taraji’ along with psychologist Dr LaShonda Green and co-host Tracie Jade.
“During this pandemic it’s been hard on all of us, and I had a moment. I had a dark moment,” Henson said. “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.”
The award-winning star said she eventually decided to tell her friend about how she was feeling.
“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,’” the actress said. “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.’”
Henson, 50, has starred in films including ‘What Men Want’ and ‘Hidden Figures’. She has been vocal about her mental health advocacy, especially for the Black community. She even started the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation that’s named after her father and hopes to erase the stigma around mental illness.