Tyler Perry opens up about his past suicide attempts as he weeps for “tWitch” Stephen Boss | CNN

Editor’s note: If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts or mental health issues, please call or text 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline to connect with a trained counselor or visit the Lifeline website.

CNN
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Tyler Perry talks about the history of his mental health after the death of Stephen “tWitch” Boss.

Boss, a professional dancer, actor, former DJ and co-executive producer of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” died by suicide on Tuesday at the age of 40.

Perry paid tribute to the Boss in a touching Instagram video Thursday, captioned, “Life.”

“I love the rest of the world, Stephen Boss, T-Witch’s death shocked,” Perry said. “I only met him twice. He was always so full of life, he seemed so light.”

The director discussed his past struggles.

“I just want to take you back to a time in my life when I attempted suicide, multiple times, because it was so dark and I didn’t think it would ever get better. I’ve endured so much pain, so much abuse, so much abuse, and it was so hard moving on that I thought it would The only way to improve this is to end my life,” Perry said.

He continued, “If any of those attempts had happened, I would have missed out on the best part of my life.”

Perry encouraged those who struggle to reach for help.

“I know it may seem like there is no hope, but please reach out to someone. Call, ask for help if you are dealing with anything, anything that is taking you emotionally to a place where you think you want to end your life,” he said.

Perry explained how he went through his pain, saying, “What I realize now, looking back on all those dark times is, sometimes pain is a buy. I know that’s hard to understand. Not all of the time—sometimes—pain is a buy. That’s how I had to learn with it to look at it to get through it. What I mean by that is, all that pain, all that hell, all that struggle, if I gave up, if I stopped, I wouldn’t have seen the better part of my life. So, I was buying something, I was paying for something What “.

He added, “I know it doesn’t make sense to a lot of people but for me, that was the way I was able to justify it, to be able to get over the pain, knowing that if I can get over this moment, get over this moment, there has to be something better.” “.

Berry said that he is now “the happiest I’ve ever been”.

“I’m telling you that, if you’re someone who’s contemplating suicide, about ending your life, and you’ve already been through a lot of hell, please, please, please, think about what the other extreme could be,” he said. “It can be amazing. And you’ll miss the best part of it going through the dark. Don’t let the dark stop you from getting to this wonderful place of life.”

Berry shared resource information for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

“I hope that if you need help, she reaches out. Call this number. God bless you. I’m a living witness you can get past.”