Amber Rose.Photo:Phillip Faraone/Getty

Amber Rose attends the National Film and Television Awards Ceremony at Globe Theatre on December 05, 2018 in Los Angeles, California.

Phillip Faraone/Getty

Amber Roseis opening up about seeking help after struggling with suicidal thoughts.

The Philadelphia-born model, 40, chatted withJason Leeon this week’s episode ofThe Jason Lee Podcast, recalling her difficult mental health journey over the past few years.

“I think I’m strong because I’m still alive,” she said on the show.

“I was very much suicidal. I’ve been probably suicidal for three years, maybe three and a half years,” she revealed. “It got so bad I had to call a suicide hotline.”

Lee then asked Rose if she was nervous being a public figure and calling a public hotline, knowing that the recording of the call could potentially get released.

“I was not okay,” she admitted, noting that she didn’t have any other choice because she felt like she didn’t have any close friends or family members to turn to.

“I don’t have a really big support system around me,” she said. “So I had a really really bad day and I called a suicide hotline and they said, ‘From 1 to 10, how likely are you to kill yourself?’ And I’m like, ‘I’m not. I’m not going to kill myself but I want to. And that’s the problem. I feel like I want to and I don’t know why I feel like this.’”

Amber Rose on The Jason Lee Show.The Jason Lee Show/Hollywood Unlocked

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Rose said that after “doing research and therapy,” she later realized that there were several factors that took a toll on her mental health, including her hormones being “out of whack” following the birth of her son in 2019, the isolation from the pandemic, and going through a “terrible” relationship and public breakup.

“The pandemic definitely had a number on me,” she said.

“I’m f—ed up mentally because everything is completely out of whack in my body and then everyone [online] is like, ‘You ain’t s—. You don’t deserve love,’” Rose explained. “I’m dealing with internal s—, external s—… and I’m just one person. I can only consume so much.”

“It kind of all just bubbled up and I was like I’m not okay, I need help,” she said, sharing that she finally found a doctor to help.

Rose said the only thing that helped her work through the suicidal thoughts was doingketaminetherapy.

“I had to microdose on ketamine. That’s the only thing that saved my life,” she told Lee. “And my children saved my life because I won’t leave my children no matter how bad it gets mentally.” Rose shares sonSebastian ‘Bash’ Taylor, 11, with her ex-husband, rapperWiz Khalifa, and sonSlashwith her ex-boyfriend, music executiveAlexander “AE” Edwards.

“Ketamine has helped me a lot… I get mine from a doctor, which I suggest everyone else do the same if they want to try that for PTSD or depression or anxiety,” she said, sharing that she’ll take the drug before bed. “Over time it kind of helps you regulate the chemicals in your body so you feel less depressed, less suicidal.”

Ketamineis a “dissociative anesthetic that has some hallucinogenic effects,” per theU.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. It “distorts the perception of sight and sound and makes the user feel disconnected and not in control,” and “can induce a state of sedation (feeling calm and relaxed), immobility, relief from pain, and amnesia.”

source: people.com