Brad Pitt recently said he went through a short period of suicidal ideation that changed how he thinks about mental health, according to E! News. In an interview published Aug. 10 with Esquire, the 62-year-old said the experience gave him a new understanding of how people can see suicide as a way to escape pain.
Pitt said he was not describing a lifelong struggle and emphasized that suicidal thoughts were never part of his nature. He said he has generally been an optimist, though he added that optimism has brought both benefits and pain over the years.
The actor said he did not want to get into specifics about what caused the difficult period, only saying it stemmed from “family stuff.” He also said he was not going to act on those thoughts, but that the pain at the time felt overwhelming.
Pitt’s comments come less than a month after his and Angelina Jolie’s daughter Vivienne filed to drop his last name, following similar petitions from Maddox, Zahara and Shiloh earlier this year, according to E! News.
