A former rehab friend of the late actor Matthew Perry has spoken about his struggles at AA meetings.
After many celebrities spoke their hearts out about the loss of 'Friends' actor Matthew Perry, a close friend of the late actor has said a few words too. The two met during rehab and the friend has given insights into Perry's tough journey while participating in Alcoholics Anonymous Meetings in New York.
Matthew Perry, aged 54, encountered difficulties within New York's Alcoholics Anonymous gatherings due to his struggle with the confrontational approach of interacting with fellow participants in the program. As per a former friend from rehab, Perry had a tough time dealing with the dynamics within the AA group because “he couldn’t stand being challenged by others.” In a conversation with NY post, the rehab friend said, “Mr. Perry wasn’t able to deal with the tough love, which is characteristic of my AA group.” He continued, “I feel for him, but in my 25 years of experience, sometimes ‘helping’ someone is really enabling."
To safeguard and protect the privacy of the rehab group, the friend expressed his desire to refrain from sharing additional details. However, he just added more thing and stated that Perry appeared to be like any other common man battling addiction. “I think he had a lot of enablers who meant well. He was in a golden cage.”
Perry, who declared that he had been sober for the past 19 months before his tragic death on October 28, was found dead at his residence. The autopsy revealed the causes of death to be drowning, a combination of ketamine and other drugs.
Within his autobiography 'Friends, Lovers and The Big Terrible Thing,' Matthew Perry recounted his struggles with addiction, candidly detailing his attendance at 6,000 AA meetings, going to 15 rehabs and getting through 65 detoxes, and visits to multiple treatment centers.