‘I often thought that I was dying...’: What Matthew Perry wrote about ketamine in his memoir

On October 29, several people across the globe were left heartbroken after the news of Matthew Perry’s death came out. The actor, popularly known as ‘Chandler Bing’, for his famous character in the American sitcom ‘Friends’, was found dead on October 28 in a bathtub at his residence in Los Angeles. Recently, an autopsy report revealed that the actor died due to the acute effects of ketamine.

Ketamine is a drug that is often used to treat anxiety and depression. Surprisingly, Perry mentioned about the drug in his memoir. In the details shared by the actor, he even said how he often thought he was ‘dying’ during the infusion therapy of the drug and how it would cause him to dissociate. He also went ahead and wrote that ‘ketamine was not for me’.

Actor Matthew Perry released his memoir in 2022. In his memoir, "Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir," Perry wrote that, shortly after getting engaged to Molly Hurwitz during the COVID-19 pandemic, he underwent daily ketamine infusion therapy at a Swiss rehabilitation facility.

“Ketamine was a very popular street drug in the 1980s," Perry wrote in his book.

"There is a synthetic form of it now, and it's used for two reasons: to ease pain and help with depression.” Calling it a ‘giant exhale’, he added, that the drug “has my name written all over it—they might as well have called it 'Matty’.”

He also mentioned that because of how he would dissociate during the procedure, he would frequently feel as if he was going to die during therapy. "I often thought that I was dying during that hour. Oh, I thought, this is what happens when you die. Yet I would continually sign up for this s**t because it was something different, and anything different is good,” the book reads.

He further wrote about how he felt that ketamine was not for him. “Taking K is like being hit in the head with a giant happy shovel. But the hangover was rough and outweighed the shovel. Ketamine was not for me,” Perry wrote in his book.

In Los Angeles, near Warner Bros Studios, at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, a memorial service was held on November 3. Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, and the rest of the 'Friends' cast were present for the memorial.

Also Read: Matthew ‘Chandler’ Perry died of an accidental overdose of ketamine: Report