Who Was Matthew Perry?
Born August 19, 1969 in Williamstown, MA, Matthew Perry was a beloved actor best known for playing the affable Chandler Bing on the massively successful sitcom ‘Friends’ in the mid 90s-2000s. He passed away on October 28, 2023 at his home in California. While his official cause of death is not known yet, it doesn’t appear to be a drug overdose and by all accounts, he was in active recovery at the time of his death.
But, like most celebrities, the person the public saw was only the tip of the iceberg. There was more to Matthew Perry than what he did for a living. The other thing that most people know about Matthew Perry is that he battled a substance use disorder and depression for most of his life. He was also a generous person who tried to give back as much as he could to the recovery community.
It’s easy for many of us to imagine all famous people lived charmed lives, so when we encounter one who had struggles just like many of us, it makes them more relatable. Perry’s ‘Friends’ character already made him beloved by millions of people, so when he revealed his battle with addiction there was far more empathy toward him than anything else.
Restless, Irritable and Discontented
Perry paints a harrowing picture of his lifelong battle with substance abuse in his memoir, ‘Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing’. We’re sad that Matthew is no longer around to see the impact his book will have or to discuss it in interviews, but that won’t lessen its effect. If you have lived with addiction or you’re in recovery, you will quickly identify with much of Matthew Perry’s story.
As early as the age of 10, the ‘restless, irritable and discontented’ thing was alive and well in Matthew. Growing up in Ottawa, Canada, he acted up in elementary school, smoking, stealing money from other students, letting his grades drop, and even bullying a fellow student by the name of Justin Trudeau. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because he’s the current Prime Minister of Canada.
Matthew Perry’s Addiction Story Unfolds
By the time he was 15, Matt Perry found himself living in California. By then he was already drinking alcohol and he became a daily drinker by the time he was 18 years old. He took an interest in acting and comedy in his early teens that would whet his appetite for the limelight. By the time he landed the ‘Friends’ gig, however, Perry’s alcoholism was in full force. Still, he managed to keep it together well enough to work and even keep his drinking a secret from his colleagues, for a time.
But during the filming of ‘Friends’, Perry reached a point where he was consuming a quart of vodka daily. Then in 1997, about 4 years after ‘Friends’ began filming, he had a Jet Ski accident and became addicted to Vicodin, on top of the alcohol addiction he was already grappling with. Confronted by his colleague, actress Jennifer Anniston, he got substance use disorder treatment at a 28-day men’s rehab program in California. Unfortunately, his sobriety did not last.
Alcoholism: A Progressive Illness
As his addiction progressed, Perry’s weight dropped to 128 lbs. At 6 feet tall, he took on a gaunt and unhealthy appearance that the production crew struggled to disguise with makeup, lighting and camera angles. Taking as many as 55 Vicodin tablets a day at that point, the acetaminophen and massive amount of liquor he was drinking took a serious toll leading to a severe case of alcohol-related pancreatitis that landed him in LA’s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in May of 2000.
In February of 2001, after several failed attempts by his castmates to intervene, Matthew Perry finally agreed to return to alcohol detox followed by continuing inpatient substance abuse treatment. The production of ‘Friends” and ‘Serving Sara’ were both suspended for two months while Perry completed addiction treatment. At this stage, he was addicted to alcohol, Vicodin, methadone, and the prescription amphetamine Adderall. Perry would later say that he had no memory of the three years surrounding this period of his active addiction.
Matthew Perry’s Triumph Over Addiction
Triumph? You might be asking yourself, how did Matthew Perry triumph over addiction? Simple. He never stopped fighting. Ultimately it was not addiction that took him out. Although the impact it had on his health may have played a role, at the end of the day he never gave up and by all accounts, his recovery was intact when he passed away. As much as we wish he was still with us, we call that a win.
We won’t elaborate on where his addiction took him after his ‘Friends’ days, it’s not important and you can find plenty of other sources to read about that from. We’d rather focus on his recovery. By his own estimate, Matthew Perry attended something like 6,000 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in his life. Something must have stuck, because despite the odds, he did manage to put together some meaningful sober time.
It wasn’t lost on Matthew Perry that as a celebrity he had a voice and could contribute to the fight against addiction. In July 2011, he spoke before Congress on behalf of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals to advocate for more funding of drug court programs. Drug court programs are a vital resource that helps rehabilitate people with addiction rather than simply tossing them in prison. He also opened Perry House, a rehab center in his former Malibu home for a time, earning him a Champion of Recovery award in May 2013 from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Don’t Give Addiction the ‘W’
The moral of Matthew Perry’s story here is that the only way addiction wins is when we give in and give up. No one recovers flawlessly. This might be a little controversial, but if you meet someone who simply decided to stop drinking or using drugs, did it and never slipped again, then they did not have the same disease of addiction as the rest of us.
The truth is addiction is messy. That means recovery is messy too, especially early recovery. But that’s OK. You have to make a mess to create something beautiful. Just look at any chef’s kitchen or an artist’s studio when they are in the middle of their work. Messy is OK. Messy is good, as long as you’re getting it done. The other takeaway from Matthew Perry’s story is that addiction isn’t something that only happens to “certain kinds of people”.
The disease of addiction does not care how much money or fame you have. It makes no difference how educated or knowledgeable you are either. Ironically, if anything, smarter people often have a bit harder time with recovery because they are reluctant to accept their powerlessness. The thing to remember is that addiction can happen to anyone – but so can recovery. But recovery doesn’t just happen, we have to make it happen and that starts with asking for help.
Atlanta Detox Center Can Help You Find Freedom
Atlanta Detox Center is Georgia’s premier drug and alcohol treatment center. If you or someone you love is ready to stop letting addiction call the shots, we can help. Atlanta Detox Center offers hotel-like accommodations, complete medical detox and residential treatment for substance use disorders.
You and the people you care for deserve the Atlanta Detox Center standard of care. Give us a call at (470) 450-2355 to begin living better today.
