Since the pandemic hit, several conversations have sparked about mental health and self-care. Many celebrities have opened the doors to hold these important discussions and their own experiences.
For Taraji P. Henson, she’s taken it into her own hands to host a Facebook Watch series, Peace of Mind with Taraji, about mental health. The recent episode touch based on her experience contemplating suicide during the pandemic.
“During this pandemic, it’s been hard on all of us, and I had a moment,” Henson said. “I had a dark moment. 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.”
Henson expressed that she wasn’t feeling like herself. She wasn’t answering loved ones’ phone calls and was withdrawing herself from everything.
Before then, the Acrimony actress had bought a gun for home protection and was contemplating using it to end her life. She then thought about the life of her son and how he would cope with her being gone, but she thought, “he’ll get over it.”
“At first, it was like, I don’t want to be here. And then I started thinking about going and getting the gun,” Henson said. “And that’s why when I woke up the next morning, and I blurted it out. Because I felt like after a while it was going to take over me and it was going to become a plan because that’s how strong my brain is. Our thoughts … They’re that powerful.”
On the show, Henson spoke with psychologist Dr. LaShonda Green about her experience. Dr. Green explained that during this time of a pandemic, it is normal to experience these thoughts. She also pointed out that sharing these thoughts with someone else can help overcome them.
For more episodes and different conversations, Peace of Mind with Taraji can be found on Facebook Watch.
