Nov. 23, 2023

Matthew Perry's Struggle with Fame and Addiction: A Journey to Recovery

Behind the glitz and glamour, Matthew Perry’s battle with addiction and near-fatal experiences have been a profound part of his life. Perry's journey of recovery and his mission to help others is a testament to the strength of the human spirit. By: Wee Yan Ling

Growing up, Perry has always long for a family. He was needy and constantly desperate for approval from his mother. He sought attention against competitors, including his stepfather who was a local newscaster, Keith Morrison. He was desperate for fame and was certain that with it, he would be cured of his desperation for love and inadequacy. 

“God, you can do whatever you want to me,” he writes. “Just please make me famous.”

 

Matthew Langford Perry has been propelled to fame due to having portrayed Chandler Bing back in 1994 in Friends. He was also renowned for being paired with Salma Hayek in Fools Rush In and The Whole Nine Yards. He even attained the Screen Actors Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a comedy series and was nominated for five Emmys for a myriad of roles. 

Throughout the illustrious life that Matthew Perry had led, lies a world of pain and destruction, brought upon by the addiction he had suffered from throughout the years. 

The start of his addiction dates back to 1997 which happened after his Jet Ski addiction when he was administered Vicodin to treat his pain. He was on it so much that he was even hungover at work. “I didn’t get sober because I felt like it. I got sober because I was worried I was going to die the next day.”

Perry disclosed in his book that he was abusing alcohol and was hospitalised with pancreatitis. He was prescribed Dilaudid which is an opioid for pain. “It was my new favourite drug,” he wrote. “And I would have stayed in that hospital for a hundred days if they kept [administering] it.”

“It’s kind of poetic,” he notes. “I was so full of shit it nearly killed me.”

In the Summer of 2018, Perry was admitted into the hospital for a gastrointestinal perforation. He had exploded his colon due to the abuse of opioids. This led to a hospital stay of 5 months and 2 weeks in coma. The doctors said that he had a 2% chance of survival. Perry had to live his days with a colostomy bag for nine months and underwent 14 surgeries during his recovery.

“There were five people put on an ECMO machine that night and the other four died and I survived,” “So the big question is why? Why was I the one? There has to be some kind of reason.”

Perry had detoxed for more than 65 times and spent 9 millions of dollars and half his life in and out of treatment facilities. 

In 2013, Perry had converted his mansion in Malibu into a sober living house. He had also been awarded the Champion of Recovery award and became the spokesman for National Association of Drug Court Professionals. 

In the podcast last year to promote his memoir, Perry shared that he wanted to be remembered for helping others. "The best thing about me, bar none, is if somebody comes up to me and says: ‘I can’t stop drinking. Can you help me?’ I can say yes and follow up and do it," he said.

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