Paris Jackson opens up about mental health and suicide attempts: ‘I’m not even close to loving myself’

Paris Jackson has opened up about her mental health struggles and revealed she has attempted suicide “many times”.

During the latest episode of her Facebook Watch series, titled Unfiltered: Paris Jackson and Gabriel Glenn, the daughter of Michael Jackson discussed her ongoing body image issues and said she turned to self-harm as a way of coping after her father's death.

Paris, whose mother is Debbie Rowe, was 11 when her father died. She is one of three children that Michael fathered alongside Michael Joseph Jackson Jr, 23, and Prince Michael Jackson II, 18.

“I was the only girl for the first 10, 11 years of my life. Because I was the only girl, my dad loved playing dress-up. I looked like a porcelain doll and I hated it,” Jackson said.

Following the death of her father in 2009, Paris said she started gaining weight while living with her grandmother, Katherine Jackson, and that she became addicted to food.

“Food became an addiction and then a cousin called me fat so I was like, 'OK, I can't do that anymore.' And that's how I fell into self-harm,” Paris explained, adding that she never thought she would die from her actions because she felt “in control”.

The 22-year-old musician described her self-harm as “a distraction from emotional pain” and later admitted: “I tried to kill myself many times.”

“There's a lot of things that cause a dopamine release,” she said. “Self-harm was one of them, tattoos was one of them and so there was that and then also it was a distraction from emotional pain and transferring to physical pain and the need for control.”

Paris went on to explain that she finds her body image struggles frustrating as she would like to part of the body positivity movement.

“It’s frustrating for me because I want to be part of the movement to broaden the beauty template. I want to make it more inclusive and it doesn’t matter what size you are, what colour you are, what background you have, what culture you’re a part of,” she said.

“I want to be part of the movement that broadens that, but it’s difficult when I fit into the stereotypical original standard template of it.”

The Gringo actor credited her boyfriend and bandmate Gabriel Glenn with helping to improve her mental health and said she hopes she can inspire others by sharing her story.

“I still struggle to accept myself but that's what I want to influence. I want to influence self-acceptance and courage and being comfortable in your own skin,” she said.

“I'm just working on content, trying to be content. Baby steps.”

In an earlier episode of her Facebook Watch series, Paris opened up about her sexuality and revealed she “never” thought she would end up with a man.

“Never thought I’d end up with a dude,” she said on the show. “Thought I’d end up marrying a chick or… I’ve dated more women than men.

If you have been affected by this article, you can contact the following organisations for support: mind.org.uk, beateatingdisorders.org.uk, nhs.uk/livewell/mentalhealth, mentalhealth.org.uk, samaritans.org.

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