MARIE OSMOND pulled her depressed brother Merrill back from the brink of suicide, The ENQUIRER has learned exclusively.
Merrill, 59, hit rock bottom while going through male menopause, sources say, but he’s bounced back thanks to Marie’s loving advice and cutting-edge hormone treatment.
“He’d become so distraught over the effects of aging that he actually contemplated killing himself,” said a source close to the family.
“Marie knew exactly how Merrill felt because she’s been through terrible depression herself. She urged Merrill to seek help.”
Show biz icon Marie, 53, revealed she’d suffered from severe postpartum depression in her 2002 memoir “Behind the Smile,” and in July 2006, paramedics rushed her to the hospital after she blacked out at home.
While her spokesperson claimed Marie had a bad reaction to medication, The ENQUIRER revealed the incident was actually a failed suicide bid.
And in February 2010, Marie’s adopted son Michael, who also struggled with depression, killed himself.
“The last thing Marie wanted was for Merrill to end up like Michael,” said a family insider.
Troubled Merrill sought help from Dr. Gino Tutera, who developed a unique hormone therapy which involves implanting a testosterone pellet under the skin.
“The testosterone was slowly released over a period of several months and gave me joy back in my life,” Merrill told The ENQUIRER.
Dr. Tutera, founder of the SottoPelle clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz., told The ENQUIRER: “Merrill had tried everything to help rectify his feelings of depression and isolation, but nothing worked. So he came to us, and now he no longer feels depressed!”