Dean McDermott took pills in the hope that he "would not wake up" after he split from Tori Spelling.

The 57-year-old actor took to Instagram in June to announce the end of his 18-year marriage, and Dean has now revealed that he took sleeping pills as a cry for help.

Dean told DailyMail.com: "I was literally at my wit's end. That night, I was drinking and I was into my pills.

"After I sent the post, I took some more pills, and I took six or seven Ambien in the hopes that I would not wake up.

"Thank God I did. Thank God I did. Because I would've ruined so many lives if I had died."

Dean believes that he's inherited some bad habits from his dad.

He explained: "My dad was an alcoholic and he had anger and rage issues. And that came from his parents. His dad was an alcoholic and a rager.

"There's a pattern here and there's a progression to generation to generation."

Meanwhile, Dean recently revealed that he's determined to correct his past mistakes.

The actor - who married Tori in 2006 - admitted that his struggles with alcohol and drugs destroyed their relationship.

Dean - who has Liam, 16, Stella, 15, Hattie, 12, Finn, 11, and six-year-old Beau with the actress - told DailyMail.com: "All Tori's ever done to this day is want me to be happy and healthy and I inflicted a lot of damage and pain on that woman.

"I'm taking accountability for that today. And it's the biggest amend that I'm ever going to have to make...

"It's going to be living the rest of my life making amends because I took something that was really beautiful and I just tore it down year after year, day after day."