Gabrielle Union is opening up.
The 48-year-old actress chatted with Gwyneth Paltrow during her In Goop Health virtual summit, where she talked about her mental health journey.
“I’ve had so many rock bottom moments as an adult, starting with being raped at 19 at gunpoint at my job. It just felt like every so many years there was some major catastrophic event that was happening in my life,” Gabrielle shared via E! News. ” lands you on your ass and you’re like ‘There’s no way I can move on from this, I’ll never recover, I’ll never be the same.’”
Gabrielle also talked about being diagnosed with perimenopause, which marks the end of a woman’s reproductive years as she transitions into menopause and can cause a wide range of symptoms associated with hormonal disruption.
Gabrielle said she was first diagnosed in 30s, but said that the “symptoms reached a fever pitch” this past September.
“I thought I was losing my mind,” Gabrielle explained. “I thought I had early onset dementia, Alzheimer’s. I gained 20 pounds overnight of water retention, inflammation, bizarre. I couldn’t think. Now, when I have to public speak in the last few months, I’m so anxious, because I’m like, ‘Am I going to remember words?’”
Gabrielle then went on to say that she recently battled suicidal ideation.
“I’ve had more depressive episodes, but never for a long periods of time. Maybe a couple of weeks,” Gabrielle said. “I fell into something so dark in December that it scared me. I had a stupid argument with D [husband Dwyane Wade], and instead of my usual problem-solving…immediately, my brain, that little inner voice said, ‘He’s never going to get it unless you’re dead.’ Only because I’ve been in therapy for half my life that I was like ‘No, I don’t know who is talking now, it’s not my intuition.’”
Gabrielle went on to say that, fortunately, ideation was “fleeting” and she was able to overcome the thoughts.
“I was able to get through it with talk therapy and diving into how I can regulate my hormones. Luckily I was at home and I alerted everyone,” Gabrielle continued. “Separating the symptoms from who you really are…to say that it’s a challenge, I don’t think I really have the words, or I lost them, to describe what these last few months have been.”
Several months ago, Gabrielle Union talked about not receiving support from her Black colleagues after claiming work toxicity at NBC.
