Brad Pitt just revealed that his messy divorce battle against Angelina Jolie has not only led him to break seven years of sobriety, but has also driven him to “understand suicide.” During the eight years it took for their divorce to be finalized, Pitt and Jolie’s relationship completely collapsed as they launched lawsuit after lawsuit at one another. Four out of their six children dropped “Pitt” from their last name, making it clear whose side they are on. All of this was seemingly weighing on the F1 actor, leading him to break his sobriety and even contemplate suicide. Keep reading for more information.
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Brad Pitt Opens Up About His Mental Health Post-Divorce
In an interview with Esquire published yesterday, the 62-year-old opened up about how the divorce affected him, admitting that he is no long sober. "I was sober for seven years," he explained. "And then I got back off the wagon." He now drinks "in a more restrainer manner," adding that he "got overconfident a couple times, went, Yep, nope, not good for me. Not in big quantities."
Breaking his sobriety was not the only effect he experienced. He also admitted that the "family stuff" he was dealing with led him to feel like he could "understand suicide."
"I was never suicidal in any way. It just was not my makeup," he said. "In fact, if I have any afflictions, it’s probably being a congenital optimist. Which has helped many times, and it’s also gotten me—I’ve walked foolishly head-on into a Mack truck because of my optimism. Or, as my forever-funny friend David Fincher will say, Yeah, you see the glass as half full, but it's half full of urine."
"Anyway, I’ve never been suicidal except for one little period," he continued. "And in that one little period, I just thought—I just couldn’t—just didn’t see a way out. The pain was so oppressive that—I wasn’t going to act on this, but I could feel—I could feel the cold steel of the bullet in my head, and it felt like relief."
"And I thought, 'Oh, okay, now I understand'—I understand suicide, in the sense that it’s just relief. It’s just looking for relief from the pain. But I also think we have incredible survival instincts. And for me, that immediately kicked in, but it was just..."
"Yeah. Like, listen: This s*** ain't easy," he concluded. "And you're talking to a guy who won the lottery."
Pitt's interview asked if this difficult period was related to "kid stuff," and Pitt clarified, "Family stuff. We could leave it at that."
