Gabrielle Union opens up about suicidal ideation and hormonal issues in talk with Gwyneth Paltrow

Gabrielle Union revealed some of her darkest struggles over the past year in a frank talk about her mental health recently.

The Bring It On star, 48, participated in Gwyneth Paltrow‘s In Goop Health virtual summit, which launched over the weekend.

During their chat, Union opened up about experiencing suicidal ideation, along with hormonal issues related to a perimenopause diagnosis.

‘I’ve had so many rock bottom moments as an adult, starting with being raped at 19 at gunpoint at my job. It just felt like every so many years there was some major catastrophic event that was happening in my life,’ Gabrielle shared, as seen in E! News. 

‘[It] lands you on your a** and you’re like “There’s no way I can move on from this, I’ll never recover, I’ll never be the same,”‘ she added.

Additionally, Union discussed being diagnosed with perimenopause in her 30s, which can cause hormonal disruptions and ‘symptoms [that] reached a fever pitch’ in September of last year.  

Frank chat: The Bring It On star, 48, participated in Gwyneth Paltrow’s In Goop Health

Wellness guru: Paltrow’s virtual summit launched over the weekend; seen here for Dear Media

‘I thought I was losing my mind. I thought I had early onset dementia, Alzheimer’s,’ Gabrielle shared. 

‘I gained 20 pounds overnight of water retention, inflammation, bizarre. I couldn’t think. Now, when I have to public speak in the last few months, I’m so anxious, because I’m like, “Am I going to remember words?”‘

From there, things only got worse for the actress and author toward the end of the year.

During their chat: Union opened up about experiencing suicidal ideation, along with hormonal issues related to a perimenopause diagnosis

‘I fell into something so dark in December that it scared me. I had a stupid argument with D [Dwyane Wade, her husband], and instead of my usual problem-solving…immediately, my brain, that little inner voice said, “He’s never going to get it unless you’re dead,”‘ Gabrielle revealed. 

She went on to explain how therapy, and those close to her, helped her out of that dark place. 

‘Only because I’ve been in therapy for half my life that I was like “No, I don’t know who is talking now, it’s not my intuition.” 

‘I fell into something so dark in December that it scared me. I had a stupid argument with D [Dwyane Wade, her husband],’ Gabrielle revealed; seen on Instagram

‘I was able to get through it with talk therapy and diving into how I can regulate my hormones. Luckily I was at home and I alerted everyone,’ she later added. 

‘Separating the symptoms from who you really are…to say that it’s a challenge, I don’t think I really have the words, or I lost them, to describe what these last few months have been.’ 

Prior to that period, Gabrielle faced additional difficulties last year – namely, her feud with NBC and America’s Got Talent, with the actress claiming racism on the part of the network and those on set for ‘toxic’ behavior and singling out her appearance as a problem.