Michael Jackson’s daughter reveals she first tried to take her life at 15, four years after the King of Pop’s 2009 death.

Paris Jackson details ‘quite a few’ suicide attempts: ‘F---, it didn’t work’

Michael Jackson’s daughter reveals she first tried to take her life at 15, four years after the King of Pop’s 2009 death.

By Kathleen Perricone

August 17, 2026 9:49 p.m. ET

Leave a Comment

Paris Jackson at the 2026 Fashion Trust Awards. Credit:

Amy Sussman/Getty

- Paris Jackson reveals she’s made ‘quite a few’ suicide attempts, in a new interview.

- The first came when she was 15, and resulting in nearly two years of in-patient care.

- After a recent dark period, the singer turned to electroconvulsive therapy to treat her mental health.

Paris Jackson has been candid about her battles with mental health and addiction, and in a new interview, she admits she nearly gave up the fight altogether “quite a few times.”

The singer’s first suicide attempt came at the age of 15, about a year after she began experimenting with drugs and alcohol. Substance abuse compounded by “untreated mental illness” was a dangerous combination, she explained on Jay Shetty’s podcast, *On Purpose*. “If it goes on for long enough, it becomes unbearable.”

On the advice of Child Protective Services, she was sent to a treatment center by her family, who were raising Paris and her brothers Prince and Blanket following their father Michael Jackson’s 2009 death. But the facility, located in Utah, did more harm than good.

After nearly two years of treatment, “I definitely left with more PTSD than I went in there with,” Jackson revealed. “[I] had nightmares for two or three years about going back… I was one of the lucky ones where we didn’t experience physical or sexual abuse, but there was definitely a lot of psychological, emotional, spiritual abuse that happened there.”

A few years later, she tried again to take her life after going “cold turkey” from heroin, while still drinking, snorting cocaine, and smoking weed. For weeks, she only slept an hour or two a night, culminating in “a suicide attempt that didn’t work,” much to her dismay.

Jackson had washed down an entire bottle of benzos with “an entire bottle of vodka,” she recalled to Shetty. “I feel like that should have worked.” She awoke four hours later, and “that was one of the first attempts where I’m like, ‘F---, it didn’t work.’”

Weeks later, she had “a proper rock bottom” with alcohol that scared her into getting sober. But the dark thoughts didn’t magically disappear.

Paris Jackson says dad Michael Jackson only let his kids enjoy Neverland attractions if they did their homework

Paris Jackson explains why she had ‘no expectations’ when meeting mom for the first time at 15

“For a long time, [I] went back and forth between this place of ‘I can’t be here anymore,’ and ‘Well, it’s not my time, so I’m stuck here,’” she recalled. “And I can try all of these methods, but they’re still not gonna work.”

Jackson considered hanging herself, but feared if that too didn’t work, “I’m gonna end up, like, kind of paralyzed. I would just think of all of these ideas and then how it would go wrong, and I’m like, ‘I’m stuck here.’”

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our ******EW Dispatch newsletter******.***

Reframing that mindset, she decided to make the most of her time.

“The good or the bad, the light and the heavy, these are all things that are part of the experience, and I’m here to experience the entire spectrum,” she told Shetty. “I want all the feelings, ‘cause that’s what I’m taking with me when I leave.”

Jackson, now 28, relies on her “spiritual toolkit,” which includes regular therapy, meditation, and prayer, to manage her ongoing mental health.

But around the time she celebrated five years of sobriety, suicidal thoughts crept back in, so she turned to electroconvulsive therapy — a shocking visual that inspired the cover of her new album, *Happiest Day of My Life*.

While ECT brought relief, Jackson understands her mental health struggles will likely be ongoing, but at least she has tools for the future.

“I think happiness is temporary. I think pain is temporary,” she explained. “And so knowing that I may get sad again, and I may go through a dark time again, hopefully will be bringing the information with me this time of ‘there is a way out. You’ve done it before. You will do it again.’”

*If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health challenges, emotional distress, substance use problems, or just needs to talk, call or text 988, or chat at** 988lifeline.org** 24/7.*

- Celebrities & Creators

- Celebrity Health

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Celebrity”