Jada Pinkett Smith Revealed Willow and Jaden Smith Saved Her From a Self-Destructive Path

Jada Pinkett Smith has been very open about her past struggles with depression and suicidal thoughts. During one of her Red Table Talk discussions about mental health, Pinkett Smith shared how her children have kept her from going down a dark path.

Jada Pinkett Smith had an ’emotional collapse’

When Pinkett Smith’s career was taking off, her mental health was taking a dive, she revealed during a 2018 Red Table Talk discussion with her mother and daughter, Willow Smith.

According to Pinkett Smith, she had an emotional breakdown even as she was having professional success. “I had an emotional breakdown that definitely I feel like affected my mental stability,” she explained.

She continued, “I had gotten to L.A. and gotten a certain amount of success and realized that that wasn’t the answer. That that wasn’t what was gonna make everything OK.”

“It actually made things worse and I became extremely suicidal and I had a complete emotional collapse,” Pinkett Smith explained. “When you just don’t have control over your emotions, your thoughts, you feel completely and utterly out of control.”

Jada Pinkett Smith admitted she was ‘severely depressed’

The actor went on to share how she was “severely depressed” for years and that getting out of bed in the morning was a struggle.

“Waking up in the morning was the worst part of the day,” she confessed. “And then it would take me, it would take me hours … so by the time the evening time came, I was at least like, ‘OK, I’m good.’ Then you go to sleep again and then …” the process repeated all over again with the new day.

She credits Willow and Jaden Smith with helping her

Pinkett Smith explained how she took a “long, long, long journey” with her mental health, which included taking medication and talking with therapists, neither of which helped. She found her way through the darker days, but it took time and understanding.

“I just had to find my path, which is why it probably took as long as it did,” she said. Now, thankfully, I don’t get depressed. I also think that I had to uproot some false beliefs. I had to just let go and just come to terms with just what life is.”

Part of her journey has involved Pinkett Smith’s children, Trey, Willow, and Jaden, who she said really saved her from herself.

“I know from my kids … lord, they definitely kept me from doing some deep destructive, self-destructive things,” Pinkett Smith explained. “They just kept me on the path until I could find the answer from myself.”

Her children, she said, helped her stay afloat. “It is important for those of us who are going through a difficult time to find that thing that can just keep our head above water,” Pinkett Smith explained.