SuitsStar Patrick J. Adams Was 'Spending Money and Drinking Too Much' During Struggle with Depression

Mar. 15, 2025

“Suits” alum Patrick J. Adams in 2024.Photo:Mat Hayward/Getty

Mat Hayward/Getty

Patrick J. Adamsshared that he took a hard look at his relationship with alcohol during season 7 of the showSuits. It’s when he left thelong-running USA Network show— which famously starredMeghan Markle— that’s since found a new fandom on Netflix.“I wasn’t taking good care of my mental health, and I was drinking too much come the end of seventh season,” Adams, 43, toldJesse Tyler Fegusonon the Nov. 26 episode of his podcast,Dinner’s on Me.“I was in a zone of living a pretty unexamined life. was pretty miserable … was, I would say, pretty depressed.”“I didn’t have the tools to deal with that depression beyond just spending money and drinking too much, you know, and not really knowing how to talk about it or in therapy sort of, but not really doing it,” Adams shared. “You know what I mean? Like, there are all these things that I knew I needed to probably be doing and I wasn’t doing.”Patrick J. Adams on ‘Suits’.Ian Watson/USA Network/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via GettyAdams, who left the role of Mike Ross onSuitsin 2018, said he was “still trying to live my life as a 25-year-old and doing my patterns of, like, how I would numb myself and take care of myself and, you know, deal with my insecurity and my fears. And they just weren’t working. And they were taking a toll on my relationship for sure, but also just making me, like, a very not present father.”Adams sharestwo daughters,Aurora, 6, andElliot, 3, with his wife,Pretty Little LiarsalumTroian Bellisario, 39, whom he married in2016.“That for me was a breaking point when I was like, ‘I think I should stop drinking probably, because I don’t wanna be that dad,’ “ Adams told Ferguson. “I was missing it. The best thing I think I ever did for myself was stop stop drinking. It just needed to happen in order for all these other things to happen.”The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Patrick J. Adams in 2022.Bruce Glikas/WireImageAs he shared, “There was really no way I was gonna take my mental health seriously, take my physical health seriously, work on my marriage, work on my friendships, you know, deal with my fears and my anxiety. I just couldn’t have done any of it if alcohol was still in the picture.”Adams said sometimes when he’s tempted to “drift,” he reminds himself “I have this new beautiful existence with new relationships and people that rely on me in a way that they couldn’t totally rely on me before, and two little beautiful children who I get to hang out with and try and be a good dad to, and can always be better.”“There’s always better,” he said.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Patrick J. Adamsshared that he took a hard look at his relationship with alcohol during season 7 of the showSuits. It’s when he left thelong-running USA Network show— which famously starredMeghan Markle— that’s since found a new fandom on Netflix.

“I wasn’t taking good care of my mental health, and I was drinking too much come the end of seventh season,” Adams, 43, toldJesse Tyler Fegusonon the Nov. 26 episode of his podcast,Dinner’s on Me.“I was in a zone of living a pretty unexamined life. was pretty miserable … was, I would say, pretty depressed.”

“I didn’t have the tools to deal with that depression beyond just spending money and drinking too much, you know, and not really knowing how to talk about it or in therapy sort of, but not really doing it,” Adams shared. “You know what I mean? Like, there are all these things that I knew I needed to probably be doing and I wasn’t doing.”

Patrick J. Adams on ‘Suits’.Ian Watson/USA Network/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Ian Watson/USA Network/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Adams, who left the role of Mike Ross onSuitsin 2018, said he was “still trying to live my life as a 25-year-old and doing my patterns of, like, how I would numb myself and take care of myself and, you know, deal with my insecurity and my fears. And they just weren’t working. And they were taking a toll on my relationship for sure, but also just making me, like, a very not present father.”

Adams sharestwo daughters,Aurora, 6, andElliot, 3, with his wife,Pretty Little LiarsalumTroian Bellisario, 39, whom he married in2016.

“That for me was a breaking point when I was like, ‘I think I should stop drinking probably, because I don’t wanna be that dad,’ “ Adams told Ferguson. “I was missing it. The best thing I think I ever did for myself was stop stop drinking. It just needed to happen in order for all these other things to happen.”

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!

Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Patrick J. Adams in 2022.Bruce Glikas/WireImage

Bruce Glikas/WireImage

As he shared, “There was really no way I was gonna take my mental health seriously, take my physical health seriously, work on my marriage, work on my friendships, you know, deal with my fears and my anxiety. I just couldn’t have done any of it if alcohol was still in the picture.”

Adams said sometimes when he’s tempted to “drift,” he reminds himself “I have this new beautiful existence with new relationships and people that rely on me in a way that they couldn’t totally rely on me before, and two little beautiful children who I get to hang out with and try and be a good dad to, and can always be better.”

“There’s always better,” he said.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

source: people.com