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Tag: celebs & sobriety

  • Jeff Goldblum Details Past Drug Use: I Had Interesting Trips

    Jeff Goldblum Details Past Drug Use: I Had Interesting Trips

    “I took mescaline three times with people from the Playhouse…That same year I took acid, and it was the last time I did anything like that,” Goldbum revealed.

    The ever quirky and wonderful Jeff Goldblum smoked “grass” and dabbled in psychedelics back in the day, but these days, he does not even indulge in so much as caffeine.

    The 66-year-old actor—who appeared in Jurassic Park, The Fly, Independence Day and many more—described his early drug experimentation as a young thespian in a recent conversation with Vice.

    Jazz Cigarettes

    While discussing his film The Mountain—in which Goldblum plays Wally, a traveling salesman type trying to prove the legitimacy of the transorbital lobotomy—he was asked if he has ever smoked a “jazz cigarette.”

    Goldblum’s candid response revealed that he was no stranger to “grass” even at an early age. “My mom kind of had a left-out feeling of youth culture as the kids came into the late 60s, wherein things started to happen,” said Goldblum. “So she not only tried starting to smoke grass herself, but started to grow it in our backyard in Pittsburgh and would give it to us and everything.”

    While he did not “smoke with her much,” Goldblum was introduced to hash by his older brother. “The first thing I ever smoked was hash and a pipe. He was going to college and had this funky apartment, and I went over. He put on The Beatles… and we smoked the stuff. It was just fantastic.”

    After moving to New York at the age of 17, Goldblum smoked grass “here and there” starting in his first year at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. That summer, he got his first professional job in the theatre at Shakespeare in the Park.

    “I took mescaline three times with people from the Playhouse… That same year I took acid, and it was the last time I did anything like that. But I had interesting trips all of those times.”

    This was the extent of the actor’s drug experimentation. “Never did cocaine, ecstasy or mushrooms.”

    He had a brief relationship with alcohol, but gave that up along with caffeine and any other “enhancement,” as he called it.

    Straight As An Arrow

    “Since then, I just experimented with drinking as a kind of freedom enhancer here and there, but it quickly ran out of steam,” he said. “In my life and in my work, I’ve gone straight as an arrow. I used to drink coffee in the last decade or two to kinda, you know, get ready for a thing like this even. But about five years ago, I gave that up entirely and religiously and don’t have any caffeine or anything. All my steam you see now is from my own imagination and my own having gotten a night’s sleep. I like to have a nice night’s sleep and a nice breakfast. And then I figure out how to put some attention on the challenge and opportunity at hand and see if I can solve it that way. I don’t do it with any enhancement.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Elizabeth Vargas To Give Keynote At National Conference On Addiction Disorders

    Elizabeth Vargas To Give Keynote At National Conference On Addiction Disorders

    Ahead of the conference, Vargas spoke about the hidden blessings of being forced to face her alcoholism in the public eye.

    This August, Elizabeth Vargas will give the keynote address at NCAD East, the National Conference on Addiction Disorders, in Baltimore, Maryland.

    The Emmy-award winning journalist, a former host of 20/20 and World News Tonight, will address the regional gathering of “clinical professionals and executives” as someone who struggled in the public eye with alcohol use disorder, a symptom of severe anxiety stemming from her childhood.

    Since she was outed in 2013 for undergoing treatment for alcoholism, Vargas has been on a long and intense journey of discovering that her pain, which she once struggled to keep private, could change the lives of others.

    Ahead of the NCAD conference, Vargas spoke to Behavioral Healthcare Executive about the hidden blessings of being forced to face her alcohol problem in the public eye.

    Writing The Memoir

    Vargas, who is now the lead investigative reporter and documentary anchor for A&E Networks, said that if her time in treatment had remained private, she probably would not have written her book Between Breaths: A Memoir of Panic and Addiction.

    “I’m not sure, honestly, if I would have written a book if it hadn’t been made public already,” she said. But years later, Vargas acknowledged the impact that her book has had. “Many say it helped them seek help. I think, gosh, if I can take the darkest chapter of my life and make something good out of it, that’s a huge gift for me.”

    Being open about her problem also affected her work as a journalist in an unexpected way. Through knowing her struggle, Vargas says people are more comfortable to “open up to me.”

    “In many ways, I feel like it has made my work easier, but deeper,” said Vargas. “When you’ve walked through a really dark time yourself, I have a great deal of empathy for people who are going through a dark time themselves.”

    Ultimately, she says, it’s important to treat people dealing with substance use disorder with dignity and respect, and not to shame them on top of the shame they are already feeling.

    “I think we need to keep in mind that getting sober or clean from drugs is very difficult. If it was easy enough to do on the first try, we wouldn’t have a problem in this country where half a million people have died of opioid overdoses in this century,” she said.

    “The more we can remember to treat them as human beings who are in pain and might have deep shame, the more successful we’ll be in helping them get clean and sober.”

    Vargas detailed her battles with alcohol abuse and anxiety in a 2016 interview with The Fix. Her anxiety stemmed from being “bullied mercilessly” as a child. Later in life, she developed a problem with alcohol that was new to her. “I drank moderately for 20 years,” she told The Fix. “It wasn’t until my 40s that I fell off a cliff.”

    Managing Sobriety

    Vargas has been sober for about four years now. She manages her anxiety through meditation, introduced to her by fellow ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos in 2014 upon returning from treatment.

    “If you can slow down long enough to think clearly, you can start to not only manage that panic, but understand that what you’re so terrified of isn’t really that terrifying.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Elton John Celebrates 29 Years Of Sobriety

    Elton John Celebrates 29 Years Of Sobriety

    The icon shared a pic of his sobriety coin on social media to mark the occasion.

    Sir Elton John has reached another sober milestone. On Monday (July 29) the iconic singer-songwriter celebrated 29 years of sobriety.

    Sharing a photo of his sobriety coin on social media, he said in the caption, “29 years ago today, I was a broken man. I finally summoned up the courage to say 3 words that would change my life: ‘I need help.’ Thank you to all the selfless people who have helped me on my journey through sobriety. I am eternally grateful.”

    The music and style icon struggled with drugs and alcohol as a young rising star. He described being in a “drug-fueled haze in the ‘80s” before he realized it was time to stop.

    “I always said cocaine was the drug that made me open up. I could talk to people,” said John in a 2012 interview with NPR. “But then it became the drug that closed me down.” Ultimately cocaine would cause the musician to isolate himself, “which is the end of the world, really.”

    Meeting Ryan White

    In his memoir Love Is the Cure, John detailed how meeting Ryan White, a young man who contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion, encouraged him to quit using drugs and alcohol.

    “It got me to realize how out of whack my life was,” said John. “I knew that I had to change. And after he died, I realized that I only had two choices: I was either going to die or I was going to live, and which one did I want to do? And then I said those words, ‘I’ll get help’… And my life turned around. Ridiculous for a human being to take 16 years to say, ‘I need help.’”

    John acknowledged how his mindset has transformed in recovery.

    “What I couldn’t do when I was an addict was communicate, except when I was on cocaine I thought I could but I talked rubbish,” he said, according to Variety. “I have a confrontation problem which I don’t have anymore because I learned if you don’t communicate and you don’t talk about things then you’re never going to find a solution.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • David Crosby's Surprised He’s Still Alive After Addiction Battle

    David Crosby's Surprised He’s Still Alive After Addiction Battle

    Given the singer’s substance-soaked history, prison time, and medical problems, Crosby is unsure of how he’s still here.

    Singer-songwriter David Crosby, 77, says he’s about as surprised as anyone that he’s lived to such a ripe old age. Crosby has been addicted to drugs, did hard time in prison, and survived heart attacks and a liver transplant foisted upon him by hepatitis C.

    “Nobody has any clue why,” said Crosby. “A whole lot of my friends are dead. I think my new motto is gonna be ‘Only the good die young.’”

    He will be celebrating his 78th birthday on August 14.

    An upcoming documentary, entitled Remember my Name, will cover the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s “checkered history.”

    “I’ve done some great things, some terrible things. Of course I remember that s—,” Crosby revealed. “All I had to do is be willing to tell the truth… But considering how old I am, I should be fading off into the distance politely and sort of getting ready to sit down and shut up.”

    Crosby has entrusted the telling of his life’s story to producer Cameron Crowe, who he’s known for a good while.

    “I’ve known him since he was 15,” Crosby said. “He was a very, very bright young man, and everybody liked him. I thought he was terrific, and we became friends. He’s been my friend ever since. And he knows, he really knows [about me].”

    One of the tales from Crosby’s life featured in the film is the story of how Joni Mitchell dumped him via song. Despite Mitchell going on to date Crosby’s bandmate, the two have stayed friends.

    “I do see her and talk to her,” Crosby said. “I had dinner with her at her place a couple months back. And I do still love her. Our relationship has always been thorny but good.”

    Prison Was The Turning Point

    Crosby’s life took a dark turn when he became addicted to heroin and cocaine, which culminated in drugs and weapons charges in 1983. After at first fleeing, Crosby turned himself in and served five months in prison in 1986. Here, he says, was where he was able to get off drugs for good.

    “It’s the only thing that really worked,” he recalled. “I had tried going into treatment and it didn’t work. I went into prison, and it worked. It was a s —y way to do it.”

    These days, life is pretty good for Crosby—with the exception of one thing: the 45th President of the United States.

    “I’m pretty happy almost all the time—unless I think about the president,” he says.

    He’s so passionate, he might even reunite with his old band, Crosby, Stills & Nash, if it could help beat President Donald Trump.

    “I would like to do some get-out-the-vote stuff in this coming year,” he said. “I really want this guy out of the White House. So if they wanted to do that, I’d probably do it with them.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Jack Osbourne Is 16 Years Sober

    Jack Osbourne Is 16 Years Sober

    “By far this has been not only the toughest year of my life but also the toughest year of my recovery,” Osbourne wrote on Instagram.

    Reality television star Jack Osbourne celebrated 16 years of sobriety this week. 

    Osbourne, the son of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, wrote about his recovery milestone in an Instagram post. He said that although he has been in recovery for a long time, this year was one of the most difficult that he has had to navigate sober. 

    “By far this has been not only the toughest year of my life but also the toughest year of my recovery. I have learned so many things about myself. Some good, some not so good,” he wrote. “But I continued to do it sober even in the face of legit pain and sadness. From divorce, to learning how to be a single father of 3 little girls, to showing up for my family when they have needed support.”

    Osbourne first went to rehab for prescription opioid addiction when he was 17. Now he is 33, and has been sober for nearly half his life. 

    “If at 17 someone told me where I’d be at 33 with 16 years of continual sobriety I would have laughed and told you to fuck off,” he wrote. 

    Staying Sober During Hard Times

    This year, Osbourne and his wife, Lisa, filed for divorce in May after six years of being married. Osbourne said that he is glad to have been able to handle that without turning to drugs or alcohol. 

    “Even though this last year of sobriety was filled with so much pain it all led to some fantastic personal growth,” he wrote. “I would love to tell you I managed this by being some kind of spiritual giant who roams the halls of recovery meetings, but it’s not the case. I’m here writing this today sober because of the friends in my life who showed up for me when I needed support the most.”

    He still needs that support, he wrote, even after all these years. 

    “I will forever be grateful for all you did,” he wrote. “You know who you are. I love you all.”

    Osbourne ended his post with a quote from The Big Book: “Through my years of darkness, some spark of spirit remained in me, helped me survive until I found my way into AA. Then, nurtured by the program, that inner spirit grew, deepened, until it filled the emptiness I had so long felt inside. Step by step I moved to a spiritual awaking [sic]. Step by step I cleared up the past and got on with the present.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Ringo Starr Speaks On Peace, Love & Sobriety

    Ringo Starr Speaks On Peace, Love & Sobriety

    The former Beatle reflects on seeking peace and love in the world and how sobriety has helped that journey.

    Musician Ringo Starr, formerly a member of the legendary Beatles, always uses July 7th, his birthday, to share a message of peace and love to the world. In an interview with Parade, Starr revealed that sobriety helped him get to where he is today.

    This year, Starr turned 79. He carried out his traditional birthday ritual of asking everyone to say or think the words “peace and love” at noon on July 7th at Capitol Records in Los Angeles, a place where his former band once called home.

    Celebrating 30 Years of Sobriety

    He’s also celebrating a few other milestones this year. Starr has now played his All Starr Band tours for 30 years now, a musical outing in which he plays alongside other music legends like Santana, Toto, and Men at Work. He’s also celebrating 30 years sober, which is no coincidence.

    “There is an absolute connection. [When] I got sober, I had all this time and more energy,” Starr explained in the interview.

    He recounted what it was like prior to getting sober.

    “I just couldn’t really move without alcohol. And without drugs. I was not a purist in any way! So in the end, I said to Barbara [Bach, his actress wife of 38 years], ‘You’ve got to get us into one of those [rehab] places,’” he remembered. “I didn’t know where they were. But she called some friends of ours in LA who knew, and I went to Arizona, where I found myself with 88 mad people in this place.”

    But despite how he may have felt about the company he kept in rehab, he can’t say it didn’t help him.

    “Well, it’s working today. That’s all I have. But it makes life so much easier,” Starr said.

    He also shared his secret for staying spry and healthy at 79: meditation, a vegetarian diet, and exercise.

    “I get up in the morning and I meditate. I go to the gym and I have a trainer, and I work out myself too, when I’m on the road,” he revealed. “I’m a vegetarian. When we’re on tour, to get out of the hotel, I usually go to the local organic shop just to see what they’ve got. But I’m only a vegetarian, not a vegan. I eat goat cheese. A vegan is very hard, and they eat a lot of sugar. I’m careful about sugar.”

    A Haze Of Drugs & Alcohol

    But things weren’t good for a long time for Starr, who admitted he spent two decades in an alcoholic haze following the breakup of the Beatles.

    “Now along the way I got lost in a haze of alcohol and drugs,” he told Rolling Stone in a 2011 interview. “But thank God I’m still here, coming out of it now a day at a rime (sic). And now I’m feeling like those days (the Sixties) again. I loved that movement, and now I sort of feel like I’m back in it.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Model Jessica Hart Speaks On Why She Embraced Sobriety

    Model Jessica Hart Speaks On Why She Embraced Sobriety

    “I wanted to look after myself. ‘My body is a temple’ is a saying I once would have laughed at, but I wanted to respect this vessel that is taking me through life,” Hart said.

    Australian model Jessica Hart recently celebrated her one-year sober anniversary, and to commemorate the occasion she wrote an essay for Harper’s BAZAAR about why she decided to quit drinking and treat her body like a temple.

    “One morning, when I was in my early thirties, I finally pulled the plug,” she wrote. “I just woke up one morning and said, This is it. I wanted to look after myself. ‘My body is a temple’ is a saying I once would have laughed at, but I wanted to respect this vessel that is taking me through life. I’d put it through so much and it was time to give back.”

    Though Hart says she never got to the point where she had to drink daily, she held the philosophy of “go hard or go home” when it came to consuming alcohol. She took pride in the fact that she could “drink most people under the table and come home as the sun was rising.”

    Thinking About The Future

    Now, at age 33, she worries about hurting herself, her career and her future with too much partying, and admires the people in her life who are sober and happy.

    “I looked at friends who live sober lives and have great families and successful businesses. I often thought, I want that. That other path—the one I was on—was simply unfulfilling.”

    Hart started her modeling career at age 14, one year after she first started drinking. She left school to fully devote herself to her work at age 15, traveling the world until she purchased a home in New York a few years later. She signed on with Victoria’s Secret in 2009 and has appeared on the covers of several of the most famous fashion magazines, including BAZAAR. 

    Unlike some models and celebrities, Hart’s life and career have been relatively free of drama in spite of her heavy drinking. She suffered a broken ankle and some nerve damage due to a serious cut on her foot in 2012, leading to a temporary hiatus from modeling. However, she was back for the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show a few months later.

    Hart also broke her wrist two weeks into her self-imposed sobriety, but that ended up helping.

    “With a broken wrist for the summer, I had to cancel any travel plans and stay home, chill and heal,” she said. “The universe was telling me it was on my side.”

    She also attended AA meetings and The Landmark Forum, a personal development course, to help her transition into sobriety. Additionally, she learned to meditate and practices the skill when she feels anxious. To others looking to go sober, she recommends taking small steps.

    “I would encourage you to take small steps and see how they connect to make a huge impact on who you truly are. Once you put to the universe that you’re going to do this for yourself, the universe gives back. I promise you that.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Ben Affleck Clarifies Support For Refuge Recovery's Noah Levine Amid Misconduct Allegations

    Ben Affleck Clarifies Support For Refuge Recovery's Noah Levine Amid Misconduct Allegations

    Affleck lauded Levine with professional praise as part of a trademark lawsuit being brought against the Refuge Recovery founder.  

    Amid allegations of sexual misconduct against Buddhist teacher Noah Levine, the founder of the non-profit addiction treatment program Refuge Recovery, actor Ben Affleck has come to his defense.

    The actor, who is in recovery, spoke highly of Levine in a statement reported by The Blast.

    “Working with Noah and his Refuge Recovery program has, quite literally, turned my life around,” said Affleck. “Today I am sober, happy, healthy and have custody of my three children. All of those things are a result of having Noah in my life. I don’t know what I would have done without him.”

    Affleck described Levine as being “without a doubt the person with the most integrity, the most honor, the most genuine compassion and the least motivated by self-interest I have ever known.”

    He said that Levine was “a gift not only to me, but also to the many scores of people I have personally known who he has helped, in addition to the thousands more he has reached through his books and the Refuge Recovery program he created.”

    Refuge Recovery, which has been covered on The Fix, is grounded in the belief that “Buddhist principles and practices create a strong foundation for a path to freedom from addiction.”

    Affleck Testifies

    Affleck clarified to The Blast that his statement regarding Levine was part of his testimony in a trademark legal dispute between Levine and Refuge Recovery, the organization that has since removed him from the Board of Directors.

    Levine and Refuge Recovery are suing each other over the use of the “Refuge Recovery” name, which according to the original non-profit organization was being used inappropriately by the Buddhist teacher.

    The organization was “deeply concerned about several conflicts of interest caused by Mr. Levine” through his use of the organization’s name for his book and a for-profit treatment center business.

    “Under federal and state laws, a non-profit business cannot benefit any one individual or business entity, if they in any way control the non-profit. The consequences for this could be fines and/or potential loss of non-profit status,” the organization said in a statement.

    Affleck said that his relationship with Levine was “strictly professional” and stated that he “was not and am not aware of what allegations have been made against him.”

    According to Good Times, an LAPD investigation “did not find enough evidence to bring charges against Levine” but an investigation by Against The Stream (ATS) another non-profit that he founded, determined that he had “likely broken the group’s rules,” and the group was closed by September 2018.

    According to The Blast, a police report was filed against him by an anonymous woman but “no charges were ever filed.”

    Levine’s Response

    Levine issued a statement in response to the allegations of sexual misconduct.

    “I take full responsibility for anything that I have actually done… To the women who have come forward and expressed a sense of suffering because of interpersonal experiences with me, I am sorry I caused you harm and I ask your forgiveness,” he stated.

    “It is important to me that any woman who felt harmed, now feels heard. I want to understand. It matters… This has been a very painful way to wake up to the reality of who I am and how I am seen by others.”

    Despite everything, Levine says he’ll continue his work.

    “I have every intention of carrying on with my calling and mission, that is to practice the Dharma, to embody wisdom and compassion as best I can and to share the teachings of the Buddha with all who are interested to receive it.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Simon Pegg: The Universe Gives Back When You Quit Drinking

    Simon Pegg: The Universe Gives Back When You Quit Drinking

    “You just can’t rely on any kind of stimulant to make yourself feel better and expect it to solve anything,” Pegg said.

    Actor Simon Pegg knew his depression was getting the best of him when his career started taking off, but he was still feeling down. 

    “I remember thinking, ‘Wow! This is happening.’ And at the same time I couldn’t understand why I was still feeling down. It was like, ‘This is all going well. Why don’t I feel good?’” Pegg said in a recent interview with GQ.

    Even as he became more successful, staring in roles in Star Trek and Mission: Impossible, he continued to grapple with depression and turned to alcohol to get through it. However, when he eventually quit drinking around the time he turned 40, he realized that life was better without the booze. 

    Managing Depression

    “What I found was that as soon as I stopped, things started to go my way,” Pegg said. “It’s a strange thing and I have had conversations with other people about this, that when you quit drinking the universe starts to give back to you a little bit. Maybe it’s because I figured out why I was drinking, which was to combat the depression and so I was able to get on top of what was the real issue. I spoke to people and got proper help. That’s when you realize you don’t need to get drunk because you don’t need to escape from things. By actually confronting it, my reward has been these last 10 years.”

    Although being sober didn’t make the depression disappear, Pegg was better able to handle the condition. 

    “What I have come to realize from back then is that depression is always there,” he said. “No matter what I did. I don’t think you ever really lose your demons. You just try to find a way to keep them in their place.”

    Now, he is able to do that in healthier ways, like working out, without trying to drown his troubles in a manner that never worked very well anyway. 

    “You just can’t rely on any kind of stimulant to make yourself feel better and expect it to solve anything,” he said. “At some point the effects wear off and you need more and more. And so with something like alcohol, you just end up being drunk all the time.”

    The Public’s Reaction

    Pegg, who first spoke out about his mental health and substance use challenges last year, said that he is happy his experiences can help others. 

    “I think I was just ready to talk about it, you know?” he said. “Before then, I hadn’t really been prepared to give that much of myself over. It isn’t something I think should be seen as shameful. It’s something that a lot of people suffer with. And what was nice was the response I had from a lot of people who said, ‘Thank you for saying that, because I felt that way too.’ And that’s what I would have hoped for.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Lamar Odom Discusses How Ketamine Saved His Mental Health

    Lamar Odom Discusses How Ketamine Saved His Mental Health

    The basketball star spoke in an interview about how the notorious club drug helped him.

    Former NBA star Lamar Odom owes his mental health to ketamine, according to his interview on People’s Party with Talib Kweli.

    Odom hit headlines after his close brush with death the night he visited a Nevada brothel and suffered 12 strokes and six heart attacks. Following the incident, the NBA player claimed that the brothel owner, Dennis Hof, was trying to kill him.

    “I think Dennis Hof… I don’t know what he had against me, but I didn’t do drugs that night, to be honest with you,” Odom, 39, said on The View in May. “So I don’t know if he tried to poison me, or… I don’t know what he had against me. He tried to kill me.”

    However Odom did own up to suffering from addiction and mental health issues, which he discussed on Talib Kweli’s show. He spoke on how these issues affected black men as well as how he himself has found help through the power of ketamine.

    “It can help with addiction, any falsehoods you have that’s holding you back in life,” said Odom.

    Many may know ketamine as the party drug called Special K, but the stuff has proven to be a mighty clinical tool in combating depression. Researchers have been able to detect changes in the brain circuitry of depressed mice in just three hours.

    “It’s a remarkable engineering feat, where they were able to visualize changes in neural circuits over time, corresponding with behavioral effects of ketamine,” said Carlos Zarate of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

    These antidepressant effects are observed at lower doses than in recreational use as well as the doses used for anesthetic purposes, ketamine’s original use. It also seems to be more effective than traditional depression medications.

    “About 70 to 85 percent of patients with severe depression who try ketamine treatment say it’s effective, compared with 58 to 70 percent of ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) patients,” said health journalist Alice Levitt.

    The only downside researchers noted about ketamine is that its antidepressant effects are temporary, lasting just a few weeks or months. However, they noted that with more examination into the actual physical changes that ketamine induced in the brain, we may yet have a more permanent treatment for depression.

    View the original article at thefix.com