Tamar Braxton speaks on suicide attempt and healing journey, says ‘God’s grace and his mercy’ spared her life
Article By Nell Logan // EEW Magazine Online // Mental Health
Tamar Braxton took to social media Thursday and broke her silence regarding her July 16 suicide attempt and new journey toward healing.
The 43-year-old singer and reality TV star, who was hospitalized after being found unresponsive in her room at the Ritz-Carlton hotel, said she attributes her survival to “God’s grace and his mercy.”
"First and foremost, thank you," Braxton wrote to her supporters. "Thank you to each and every individual who has prayed for me, thought of me, sent me their love and has showered me with their support. In this present moment, it is my only responsibility to be real with myself and to be real with the ones who truly love me and care for my healing.”
In the lengthy, revealing, and emotional statement posted to her official Instagram account, Braxton explained that being featured on reality TV for more than a decade caused her mental health to deteriorate. “Over the past 11 years, there were promises made to protect and portray my story with the authenticity and honesty I gave,” she said. “I was betrayed, taken advantage of, overworked, and underpaid.”
The “Love & War” singer’s shocking revelation comes two weeks after the teaser was released for her upcoming WE tv docuseries, Tamar Braxton: Get Ya Life! WE tv announced that it is postponing the series, pushing its original air date of July 30 to September 10.
In one of the dramatic scenes from Get Ya Life!, Braxton said, “I’ve been feeling choked every single day.” At one point, she is shown crying and moments later, cameras cut to Braxton storming out of the room, and a short time later she is heard screaming from behind a closed door. It is unclear what caused the commotion and upset, but she was clearly unhappy and distressed.
According to Braxton, she made network executives aware of her mental health decline more than two months ago, “asking to be freed from what I believed was excessive and unfair. I explained in personal detail the demise I was experiencing. My cry for help went totally ignored.”
She continued, “I felt like I was no longer living. I was existing for the purpose of a corporation’s gain and ratings, and that killed me.”
Though fans have seen Braxton grace red carpets, conduct high profile interviews, live in beautiful homes, drive fancy cars, and travel around the world with her glam squad, she made it clear that things have not been as glamorous as they seemed.
“Reality TV personalities have no union, no coat of protection, no formal prepresentation that protects our labor, our rights, or our voices,” she said. “They promise us opportunity but produce exploitation, which has only developed a poor portrayal of black people in show business.”
For her, the overwhelming workload and conditions she deemed “toxic” became too much, and she wanted to end it all. Thakfully, she said, “It was only your prayers that have pushed me to rise above my own personal demise.”
Now that Braxton has made it through that dark time and is on the road to recovery with the help of family, friends, and mental health professionals, she said she will use her platform to speak out about mental health and help those who may be suffering silently.
