Matthew Perry opens up about addiction and near-death experience

The One Where Matthew Perry Almost Died. Friends actor Matthew Perry is opening up about his brush with death, stemming from an opioid addiction.

Speaking with People, Matthew Perry explained that he hopes his upcoming memoir can help others who have also struggled with addiction. He also went into vivid detail about his near-death experience and five-month hospital stay, demonstrating the dangerous grip addiction can hold on an individual.

“I woke up and realized I had a colostomy bag,” said Matthew Perry, citing his opioid addiction. “They said, ‘It’s all too messy down there. We can’t do surgery. But in about a year you can reverse that.’ It was pretty hellish having one because they break all the time.”

Perry was also given just a two percent chance of survival. Could he be any luckier?

On writing the book, Matthew Perry said, “I wanted to share when I was safe from going into the dark side of everything again…I had to wait until I was pretty safely sober, and away from the active disease of alcoholism and addiction to write it all down. And the main thing was, I was pretty certain that it would help people.”

Perry has been fairly open about his addictions, which got so severe while shooting Friends that he claims to not remember an entire three seasons.

Perry’s book, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing”, “takes us behind the scenes of the hit sitcom and his struggles with addiction in this candid, funny, and revelatory memoir that delivers a powerful message of hope and persistence.” It is due out on November 1st.

Matthew Perry didn’t reveal how long he has been sober but has been actively promoting such a lifestyle, saying, “If you don’t have sobriety, you’re going to lose everything that you put in front of it, so my sobriety is right up there.”

Perry’s most recent television appearance was on the Friends reunion for HBO Max.