Matthew Perry Struggled With Self-Esteem, Chain-Smoking Habit During Last Days

The late Matthew Perry’s addiction struggles started during the filming of Fools Rush In in 1996 when he had a jet ski accident and was prescribed pain killer Vicodin. However, after a long battle with it, the actor sought help and embraced sobriety. He shared his story and the road to recovery in his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.

Following his death, sources close to him have opened up on the circumstances leading to his death, claiming that the late actor battled with several challenges, which he hid from his friends and family in the months preceding his death.

Matthew Perry struggled with self-esteem

Although Perry embraced his sobriety wholeheartedly, as time passed, he began to battle with depression. Rather than seek mental health support, he indulged in chain smoking and consumption of high-calorie foods, which made him overweight. His struggle with obesity further impacted his mental health, causing him to suffer from self-esteem issues.

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An insider stated that to cope with his challenges, the late actor became dependent on medications as law enforcement officers found bottles of anxiety and depression medicine in his house after his death. “Matthew was actually back on the right track,” the insider added. “To his credit, he hired a personal trainer and played pickleball. But he was never free of the crippling issues that had turned him to booze and drugs. He was reliant on meds to keep them at bay, and they likely led to his downfall!”

He created a sense of false hope for his friends and family

An insider explained to The National Enquirer that during Perry’s private struggle with depression, he skillfully concealed his inner turmoil from friends and family, crafting an illusion of perfect well-being. “But things weren’t as rosy as the picture he painted on his book tour,” the source admitted to the news outlet. “He was miserable and depressed, despite the perception that he had turned his life around.”

The source also added that had he opened up, he would have received support from his loved ones. “Matthew’s friends got the message he was okay, never realizing they were signing his death warrant by respecting his requests for privacy,” the insider confessed. “If only he’d gotten more support, he may have been able to deal with the demons that devoured him in the end.”