Jamie Foxx has been in the entertainment industry for nearly three decades as a comedian, actor, singer and host.
In his expansive career, he rarely speaks about his personal life and his mental health until now. During an interview with Hip Hollywood, the Ray and Baby Driver actor revealed he struggled with drugs and alcoholism. He would use the substances as a coping mechanism to deal with stress and depression early in his career.
“I was in a bad place because I felt like I might be literally losing my mind,” Jamie said. “I’ve always had a childhood fear of losing my mind. I needed someone to help bring me out of it.”
After the issue escalated, Foxx sought treatment from a psychiatrist who discovered the root of the problem.
It turns out the issue began when he was a teen. “A deep-seated dread of mental illness that was exacerbated by an incident when he was 18 when his drink was spiked by the hallucinogenic drug PCP (phencyclidine) at a college party,” blackdoctor.org reports.
He spoke about this incident with Oprah during an "Oprah Next Chapter" telecast. Foxx blacked out and had to be taken to the emergency room. “That was the last thing I said, and then I was almost in a coma and I couldn’t move, couldn’t talk, couldn’t even say, 'Take me to the hospital.'”He truly believed it was the end. The traumatic incident would trigger emotional flashbacks years after.
"It happened to me when I was 18, and I had 11 months of harsh flashbacks, and then when I was 26 I had a flashback just like that (snaps his fingers) – and another one when I was 32, and that was the last one, but I always worry about it coming back.”
There have been several manic mental health episodes throughout his life. Foxx, who is 50, said he shares similarities with rapper Kanye West, and he sympathizes with the Ye artist.
“When [Kanye] talked about the drugs, the mental drugs, I’ve had an episode of that,” Jamie told Hip Hollywood. “When [Kanye] was talking about the, ‘I went in for 2 pills, and the 7 pills [he received from the hospital],’ that’s real!”
But he admits that he was not allowed to go out in public when he was at his lowest. Family members were his backbone. They held him up when he couldn't do it himself.
“I was lucky enough to have people, like my sister, like my family, to say yo, you can’t go out right now cuz you talking crazy,” he shared.
Now, the Oscar-winning actor plans to join the superhero craze by becoming Spawn in his next major film.