Dwayne Johnson Reveals Depression Battle After Mom’s Suicide Attempt

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is one of the most upbeat and positive people in Hollywood. But the former WWE Superstar and Hollywood blockbuster leading man admitted in an interview with Express this week that he hasn’t always been that way.

Johnson told the British publication that he was battling depression as a young man following his mother’s (Ata Johnson) suicide attempt.

“She got out of the car on the Interstate 65 in Nashville and walked into oncoming traffic.” Johnson said. “Big rigs and cars were swerving out the way. I grabbed her and pulled her back on the gravel shoulder of the road. I grabbed her and pulled her back on the gravel shoulder of the road.”

“What’s crazy about that suicide attempt is that to this day, she has no recollection of it whatsoever,” Johnson continued. “Probably best she doesn’t.”

Johnson was only 15 at the time of his mother’s attempt to take his own life, and it shook him mentally.

“Struggle and pain is real. I was devastated and depressed,” Johnson said. “I reached a point where I didn’t want to do a thing or go anywhere. I was crying constantly.”

Years later, Johnson played college football for the University of Miami during their historic run in the late 1990s. He had dreams of playing in the NFL, but a string of injuries prevented him from doing so. Johnson said he reached another low point after being dropped by the Canadian Football League after just one season in 1995. His girlfriend at the time dumped him shortly afterwards.

“That was my absolute worst time,” Johnson said.

In the years since, both Johnson and his mother have continued to improve their mental health, and have reached out to help others as well with their own battles with depression.

“We both healed but we’ve always got to do our best to pay attention when other people are in pain,” he said. “We have to help them through it and remind them they are not alone.”

One of those instances came when he reached out to British television personality Devina McCall following her divorce last year.

“She is going through a difficult time at the moment, so my advice to her is to just keep on going,” Johnson told The Sun. “I’ve been there, I have been in a dark place, and if there’s one thing she needs it is to talk things out, because nobody should be suffering in silence.”

“Talking it through and not going through it alone is half the battle won.”

Johnson’s upcoming film Rampage hits theaters in April 13.