Matthew Perry's memoir reflects on his health struggle and addiction journey

It has been a tough time for fans of Friends ever since Matthew Perry, who is better known as Chandler Bing from the popular American sitcom, passed away yesterday, October 29, at the age of 54, reportedly due to drowning. 

Despite his success with Friends, from 1994-2004, Matthew Perry suffered from addiction to Alcohol and Vicodin and was taking treatment for the same from 1997 to 2001. He also revealed that he had a substance abuse problem after Vicodin was prescribed to him after a Jet Ski accident in 1997. 

With his friends and fans revisiting his memoir that he wrote in 2022 titled Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, some of the notable points from his book that he widely spoke about were his addiction to alcohol and painkillers, his crush on his co-star Jennifer Aniston, his relationship with Julia Roberts and his near-death experiences.

In his autobiography, Perry addressed his addiction extensively, stating that during his lowest points, he needed to take 55 potent painkillers a day to get it through a day of filming.

Perry claimed that viewers would be able to determine whether he was using drugs or alcohol "from season to season" by "gauging" his weight and keeping track of his facial hair. “When I’m carrying weight, it’s alcohol; when I’m skinny, it’s pills; when I have a goatee, it’s a lot of pills,” he said.

Perry also mentioned how his co-star Jennifer Aniston confronted him about his alcohol problem. “‘I know you’re drinking,’” Perry recalled Aniston telling him. “To be confronted by Jennifer Aniston was devastating. And I was confused. ‘How can you tell?’ I said. I never worked drunk. ‘I’ve been trying to hide it.’

“‘We can smell it,’ she said, in a kind of weird but loving way, and the plural ‘we’ hit me like a sledgehammer,” Perry wrote.

Perry’s drug use continued after Friends, with the actor explaining that he “nearly died” four years ago when he was 49.

After abusing opioids to the point that his colon burst, Perry spent five months in the hospital, nine months utilising a colostomy bag, and two weeks in a coma. He was given a "two per cent" chance of survival, according to his relatives.

Perry nearly died a second time a few years later when his heart stopped pumping for five minutes.

“It wasn’t a heart attack – I didn’t flatline – but nothing had been beating,” he said, explaining how eight of his ribs broke during CPR.

Perry's memoir also mentioned the crush that he had on his co-star Jennifer Aniston before filming Friends. “I was immediately taken by her (how could I not be?) and liked her, and I got the sense she was intrigued too – maybe it was going to be something,” he said. However, Jennifer declined when he asked out but said she would love to be friends."We can’t be friends!" said Perry.

Matthew Perry and Julia Roberts became friends before her guest appearance on season two of the show. They communicated by fax in 1995, before they had ever met in person, during the early stages of their relationship. Despite their hectic schedules, the actor disclosed that they used to send "hundreds" of faxes daily.

The couple dated for six months before splitting up in 1996. Matthew Perry said that he broke up with the "beautiful and brilliant" Julia Roberts because of his own struggles with addiction and not feeling "enough" for her. 

If you are or know someone who is suffering from drug abuse or substance abuse, seek help from the National Toll Free Helpline (1800-11-0031)