Kathy Griffin opens up about the darkest chapter of her life, which included a suicide attempt in 2020.
The comedian, who announced her lung cancer diagnosis on social media Monday morning, discusses the news in an interview airing tonight on ABC News. Night line. He also dives into his mental health journey, his pill addiction, his suicide attempt, his newfound sobriety, and more.
In one clip from the interview, Griffin (60) recalls the time she tried to take her own life.
“I started thinking about suicide more and more as I became addicted to the pills,” Griffin, 60, tells co-host Juju Chang. “And it became almost an obsessive thought. I started to really convince myself that it was a good decision.”
“I got my living revocable trust in order. I had all my ducks in a row. I wrote a note, the whole thing,” she continues. “And I just thought, ‘I’m just going to pop a bunch of pills and go to sleep’.”
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After the suicide attempt, Griffin said she contacted a doctor and that her husband, Randy Bick, helped her with treatment.
About her addiction, Griffin said she was first introduced to pills through Provigil, a prescription drug used to treat symptoms of excessive sleepiness. She said she was later prescribed Ambien for sleep and then pain medication after various injuries.
Griffin, who does not drink, said she began seriously abusing the pills after she caused widespread outrage by posing with a replica of then-President Donald Trump’s bloodied, severed head in her hand in 2017.
“To be honest, it really kicked into high gear when the Trump thing happened,” she tells Chang in another clip from the sit-down. “Before that, I will say that I was dealing with pill addiction in a way that wasn’t good. But then, after that happened [with Trump]I just thought, ‘Who cares?'”
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David Livingston/Getty Images stars on their experiences with addiction
Griffin is currently recovering after going through a “nasty” months-long detox. During the process, she says she recognized a “silver lining” in her sobriety.
“I am so delighted and grateful [that] at 60, I’ll get the next chapter,” she says in another Night line clip. “It’s the thing that everybody said wouldn’t happen, [and it was something] I believed it wouldn’t happen. Even I thought, even if I get the next chapter, what is it? I sit and never work again? And no – I think anything is possible.”
On Monday, Griffin underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from her lungs. “She is now out of surgery and everything went well, according to her doctor,” her rep told PEOPLE.
full Night line the interview airs tonight at 12:35 a.m. ET on ABC.
If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Line at 741-741, or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, contact the SAMHSA Substance Abuse Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
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Source: HIS Education