Perry's views on ketamine resurfaced after his autopsy report stated acute effects of ketamine led to his death.
Matthew Perry's views on ketamine -- detailed in his 2022 memoir -- are resurfacing after his autopsy report concluded that acute effects of ketamine proved to be the cause of death.
In his memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, the late Friends star wrote about taking ketamine infusions while in rehab in Switzerland. He would later come to the determination that that type of therapy was "not for me."
"Ketamine was a very popular street drug in the 1980s," Perry wrote in his book. "There is a synthetic form of it now, and it's used for two reasons: to ease pain and help with depression."
Perry would go on to describe the drug as a "giant exhale" and that it had his name "written all over it."
"They might as well have called it 'Matty,'" he wrote.
While getting ketamine infusions, Perry wrote he was blindfolded and listening to music. During those therapy sessions, Perry wrote, he'd "disassociate." He also said getting ketamine infusion therapy often made him feel like he was "dying" during the hour-long sessions.
"Oh, I thought, 'This is what happens when you die,'" he wrote. "Yet I would continually sign up for this s**t because it was something different, and anything different is good."
Perry also wrote, "Taking K is like being hit in the head with a giant happy shovel. But the hangover was rough and outweighed the shovel."
He'd go on to conclude, "Ketamine was not for me."
Perry, who rose to stardom playing the role of the lovable and funny Chandler Bing, was found dead at his home on Oct. 28. He was 54. On Friday, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office released Perry's autopsy report, which listed Perry's cause of death as acute effects of ketamine.
According to the report, Perry was reportedly receiving ketamine infusion therapy for depression and anxiety. His last known treatment was more than a week before his death, but the ketamine in his system could not be from that treatment since the drug's half-life is under four hours, according to the report.
The report noted that contributing factors to Perry's cause of death were drowning, coronary artery disease, and the effects of buprenorphine, which is a drug that is prescribed for the medical treatment of people with an opioid drug dependence.
Perry's manner of death is listed as accidental, stating that it was drug and drowning related. No foul play is suspected, according to the report.
According to his death certificate, Perry was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles on Nov. 3. As ET previously reported, Perry's Friends co-stars -- Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer -- attended his funeral, along with other loved ones.
RELATED CONTENT:
