Tyler Perry is opening up about attempting to take his own life as he reacts to the death of Stephen "tWitch" Boss, who died by suicide.
tWitch, a former Ellen DeGeneres Show DJ and So You Think You Can Dance all-star, died at the age of 40, his wife Allison Holker Boss, 34, confirmed with PEOPLE on Wednesday.
In an Instagram video simply captioned "Life...", Perry, 52, said, "I like the rest of the world am shocked by the death of Stephen Boss, tWitch."
He added that the tragedy urged him to share a message "to any of you who are going through hard times, struggling."
"I've only met him a couple of times," the film director and actor said of the professional dancer. "He was always full of life, it seemed like, such a light."
Reflecting on "dark" times he's experienced in his own life, Perry continued, "With that said, I just want to take you back to a time in my life when I tried to commit suicide, a couple of times, because it was so dark I didn't think it would get any better. I had endured so much pain, so much abuse, sexual abuse, it was all so hard to just move through that I thought the only way to make this better was to end my life."
"Had any of those attempts happened, I would've missed the best part of my life," said Perry.
He went on to share a message for others who are "going through some things", and urged them to contact someone for help.
"I know it may seem like there's no hope, but please reach out to someone ... call, ask for help if you are dealing with anything that is emotionally taking you to a place where you think you want to end your life."
Perry continued the video by revealing a lesson he learned when he was at his lowest.
"What I realize now, looking back on all those dark times is, sometimes the pain is a buy-in. I know that's hard to understand. Not all the time — sometimes — the pain is a buy-in. That's the way I had to learn to look at it to get through it. What I mean by that is, all that pain, all that hell, all that struggle, if I had given up, if I had stopped, I wouldn't have seen the better part of my life. I was buying into something, I was paying for something."
Added Perry: "I know that doesn't make sense to a lot of people but for me, it was the way I was able to rationalize it, to be able to move through the pain, knowing that if I could just get through this moment, there's got to be something better."
Perry said he is now "the happiest I've ever been," sharing that his "life is full of joy and love, things I never thought I'd get to. I'm saying that to you, if you are a person who's considering suicide, ending your life, you've already been through a lot of hell, please, please, please, think about what the other side could be. It could be amazing. And you would miss the best part of it going through the darkness. Don't let the darkness stop you from getting to this incredible place of life."
He urged those who are thinking about taking their own life to call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
"My hope is that if you need help, that you reach out. Call this number. God bless you. I'm with you," Perry said. "I'm a living witness you can make it through it. I'm so glad my attempts didn't work. I'm still alive. The best part of my life, and I would've missed it had I decided to end it. Well I did, but, it didn't work."
He concluded, "Let's end this new year loving us, loving on each other, encouraging ourselves, this is gonna take that from within. God bless you. Rest in peace, tWitch."
