'Often thought I was dying': Friends star Matthew Perry had said about Ketamine use
Matthew Perry
Friends star Matthew Perry's sudden death shocked the entire world. The beloved actor, known for his portrayal of Chandler Bing, passed away after drowning in a jacuzzi at his LA home on Oct 28. On Saturday, (Dec 16), Perry's cause of death was disclosed as the acute effects of ketamine, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's office said.
Perry, who has been very vocal about his year-long struggles with addiction and drugs, had been undergoing ketamine infusion therapy as a treatment for his depression and anxiety.
"Contributing factors in Mr. Perry's death include drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine (used to treat opioid use disorder)," the medical examiner said in a statement. "The manner of death is accident. "
Unravelling ketamine: The drug linked to actor Matthew Perry's death
Perry had struggled for decades with addiction to drugs, including ketamine. However, he had been sober for over 19 months prior to his passing. In his memoir, titled ‘Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir’, Perry had earlier written about ketamine infusion therapy as he revealed that he felt like "dying" during the hour-long therapy session.
Matthew Perry on Ketamine
Writing about his drug addiction, Perry revealed that he took ketamine infusion therapy at a Swiss rehab clinic during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Ketamine was a very popular street drug in the 1980s," Perry wrote in his book. "There is a synthetic form of it now, and it's used for two reasons: to ease pain and help with depression."
Calling it a ‘giant exhale’, Matty wrote that it “has my name written all over it—they might as well have called it 'Matty’.”
Further recalling, the actor wrote that he felt like dying during the hour-long ketamine infusion therapy.
"Oh, I thought, 'This is what happens when you die,'" he wrote. "Yet I would continually sign up for this s**t because it was something different, and anything different is good."
Perry concluded, "Taking K is like being hit in the head with a giant happy shovel. But the hangover was rough and outweighed the shovel. Ketamine was not for me."
As per the Associated Press report, the last ketamine infusion therapy session Perry underwent was one and a half weeks before his death.
On Oct 28, Perry's assistant discovered him in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home around 4 pm.No signs of foul play or drugs at the scene were reported.
