Jada Pinkett-Smith Reveals She Contemplated Suicide After Hearing ‘Voices’ In Her Head Amid Depression

Ahead of the release of her upcoming memoir, “Worthy”, Jada Pinkett-Smith revealed that she contemplated suicide about a decade ago. Opening up in an October 11 interview, she shared that her mental health took such a hit that she was planning ways to kill herself.

‘When I turned 40, I was in so much pain,” Jada, now 52, told People. “I couldn’t figure out a way besides death. So I made a plan.” Jada admitted to hearing “voices” that told her to “kill [herself],” which led her to begin plotting her own death. “I started looking for places, cliffs where I could have an accident because I didn’t want my kids to think their mother had committed suicide,” she recalled.

Jada revealed that she was able to overcome her suicidal thoughts after an enlightening conversation with one of her son, Jaden Smith’s, friends. The friend told Jada about ayahuasca ceremonies, where a participant is given a plant-based psychedelic drug and is guided through hallucinations by the ceremony’s leader. She began partaking in ayahuasca herself.

“[It] helped me,” Jada said. “It gave me a new intimate relationship with myself that I never had before. The suicidal thoughts completely went away.” She has since turned husband Will Smith and their children, Jaden, 25, and Willow Smith, 22, on to the practice.

Feelings of depression and suicidal thoughts were not new to Jada at this time, as she said she experienced similar mental health issues before she met Will. Once they got together, though, her mindset shifted, and she stopped taking the medications she was on beforehand. “I was so intoxicated by him and our dynamic,” she admitted. “I really felt like I’m cured. He became the drug.”

Unfortunately, Will and Jada have dealt with a lot of ups and downs since tying the knot in 1997. In fact, Jada revealed in her People interview that she and her husband have actually been separated since 2016. “We’re still figuring it out,” she shared. “We’ve been doing some really heavy-duty work together. We just got deep love for each other and we are going to figure out what that looks like for us.”

Regardless, the two have put on a united front in the public eye, particularly when Will jumped to Jada’s defense and slapped Chris Rock across the face after the comedian made a joke about her at the 2022 Oscars. At that point, Will and Jada had already been separated for six years. Still, Jada confirmed that she’s going to remain “by [Will’s] side” in the aftermath of the controversial slap.