The powerful voice. The attitude. The smile. Those are all things we recognize about Jenifer Lewis, even if we may not recognize her name. The well-known actress has been in many memorable roles and continues to thrill audiences on the big and small screen in over 60 major films like What's Love Got To Do With It, Think Like A Man, Sparkle, and countless roles on shows like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and on the award-winning sitcom, black-ish.
Lewis has accomplished a lot, but she's also been through a lot and over the past few years she beginning to peel back the curtain and share more of her private life.
In March, Lewis discussed her near-death experience in an exclusive interview with Robin Roberts on “Good Morning America.” While visiting the Serengeti in November 2022, the actress fell 10 feet off of her hotel balcony in the middle of the night, into a dry ravine filled with boulders and stones.
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“I didn’t know you could be in that much pain and be alive,” she said, per People. “I went from that high-kick standing on my star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame; five months later, I was on the ground of the Serengeti and that same leg couldn’t move.”
Learning how to walk again was just one aspect of her health journey. After nearly 20 years of therapy and 10 years of being medicated for bipolar disorder, the beautiful actress is telling her story.
Jenifer was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1990, but she says she knew for years before, that something was wrong. Her addiction to sex and alcoholism spiraled things out of control. Jenifer says she deals with her mental health issues every day, but she's happy with her life thanks to really loving herself.
As the years of being a sought after actress and performer passed, her undiagnosed bipolar symptoms worsened, and by 1989 she was heavily self-medicating with alcohol in addition to sex.
"I was Cleopatra, Pam Grier, Marilyn Monroe, and Jezebel rolled into one," admits Lewis. "For me, nothing could extend the thrill of a standing ovation like great sex with a gorgeous guy.”
“Just as alcoholism isn’t really about the liquor, my addiction wasn’t really about the sex. It was about the unresolved psychological problems that caused me pain. Sex was simply my painkiller,” continues Lewis.
"You have to look in the mirror … and say—before you can go or grow into anything—you have to say you love yourself," she professes.
One of the key triggers for her disease came 20 years ago when her father died.
“I was overwhelmed with my grief, unable to handle my feelings,” she says. “I cried and cried, and I started to scream. I wanted to be let out of the darkness.”
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But at her lowest, three years later when a girlfriend, who witnessed her screaming on the floor, said, “I don’t think this has anything to do with your father dying,” Lewis says. That’s when she finally decided to seek help and discovered she was bipolar.
People who are bipolar switch from feeling an energetic, "high" and/or irritable to feeling sad and hopeless, and then back again. They often have normal moods in between. These "up" and "down" feelings are called mania and depression. If left untreated, bipolar disorder can result in damaged relationships, poor job or school performance, and even suicide.
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One of the problems with being bipolar is that, "it’s hard to accept that you have a problem," Lewis shares. You might yell at your children or partner over something insignificant and think those reactions are normal, experts say. You might be angry with your boss and go off on him or her over something minor, or, as Lewis put it, “always find yourself at the center of some drama.”
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“That’s another piece of the disease – the denial,” she says. “You think everyone cries themselves to sleep. You should ask yourself...
... 'why am I so depressed,' 'why am I so angry with my children,' angry with my partner...why am I depressed, or over the top?”
Denying the problem can only cause more problems, Lewis says, adding that self-medication, such as when she started drinking heavily while attending college, is a byproduct of the uncontrollable emotions bipolar people suffer.
But the now 60-years-young actress has her daily routine to keep herself out of the darkness.
"All it takes is an extra few minutes each day," explains Lewis to BlackDoctor.org. "When you are depressed, you don’t want to see people. You don’t want to see light. Now, when I wake up I purposely put a smile on my face, open up the curtains and blinds to let light in. To be the light, you have to see the light. That’s why I am healthy.
"It shouldn’t have to take a disease or something to get you to get right. I almost died of the flu. Try not to let unhealthiness get too far to get you to change. Complacency is a thing that keeps us down. Whenever I can, I take the stairs instead of the elevator."
"Make an EXTRA effort, for yourself."
So, when asked what's next for the decorated, award-winning actress and singer, she answered with a smile on her face and said,
"I’ve learned to live in the moment. You should never say, ‘I’ll be happy when ___.’ Spend your time saying ‘Thank you’ and ‘what is it you would like.’ If in fact, you can imagine it, you already have it."
"Whatever I’m going to be doing in 5, 10, 25 years, I want to be happy. As long as I’m connected to it. Evolving creatively, healthy, happy and free."
