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  • Dax Shepard Speaks On 15 Years Of Sobriety: I'm On Fire To Be Alive

    Dax Shepard Speaks On 15 Years Of Sobriety: I'm On Fire To Be Alive

    Shepard says that being sober for so long has allowed him to recapture an energy and a joy for life that he hasn’t felt since he was a child.

    Dax Shepard of Punk’d and various comedy films including Hit and Run and CHiPs sat down with Talib Kweli on a recent episode of People’s Party and talked about his former cocaine use and how he feels after spending 15 years sober.

    After being asked about the subject by Kweli, Shepard began by crediting his sobriety to his current marriage to actress Kristen Bell and their two daughters.

    “I wouldn’t have a family without sobriety first and foremost,” he said. “Bell would’ve never signed up for the old version of me.”

    Beyond that, Shepard says that being sober for so long has allowed him to recapture an energy and a joy for life that he hasn’t felt since he was a child.

    “I just thought if I could ever get back to the point where when I walk out my door I’m thrilled to go on an adventure with nothing in me but oatmeal? That’s the goal, and I can honestly say for about the last seven years, I’m on fire to be alive.”

    In spite of his enthusiasm for sobriety, Shepard believes that everyone should try certain drugs at least once, if they can.

    “I don’t think anyone should leave planet Earth without doing mushrooms and ecstasy. I hope my children do mushrooms when they get older.”

    He stressed that he does not, however, want his children to do cocaine, as he feels that the intense stimulant “will make you not allowed to do all the other things.”

    Moderation & Marriage

    Shepard has expressed support for moderate drug use in the past, hitting back at a tweet from CBS’s The Talk that questioned Kristen Bell’s smoking cannabis around her sober husband. 

    “That would be like a diabetic expecting their partner to never eat dessert,” Shepard replied. “Get real!”

    Shepard first started using drugs in high school, though he maintains that he did not have a problem until after he turned 18. In 2012, he opened up to Us Weekly about his drug use in young adulthood, saying he took “cocaine, opiates, marijuana, diet pills, pain pills, everything,” along with drinking.

    “Mostly my love was Jack Daniel’s and cocaine,” Shepard said. “I lived for going down the rabbit hole of meeting weird people. Of course, come Monday I would be tallying up all the different situations, and each one was progressively more dangerous. I got lucky in that I didn’t go to jail.”

    After fighting frequently with Bell over his substance use, Shepard got sober in 2004 and has been going strong ever since.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Shia LaBeouf Talks Alcoholism & How His New Theater Company Changed His Life

    Shia LaBeouf Talks Alcoholism & How His New Theater Company Changed His Life

    The movie star has had a rough few years, but is happier and less lonely with his Slauson R.C. Theater Company.

    Actor Shia LaBeouf is happier now that he’s found a community at the Slauson R.C. Theater Company, a performing arts program he co-founded.

    His film career has seen the extremes of the creative spectrum, from mainstream blockbusters like Transformers to arthouse flicks like American Honey. His personal life has been a roller coaster as well, garnering national attention for his racist tirade during a public drunkenness arrest.

    LaBeouf Says Theater Company Has Given Him A New Lease On Life

    But now that LaBeouf has the support of his theater community, he says he’s happier than he’s ever been in his entire life. LaBeouf’s Slauson Rec. initiative is open to anyone with “a story that they’re willing to share” whether or not they are trained or experienced actors. While the pursuit seems wholesome, LeBeouf admits in an interview that his passion for it comes from a place of selfishness.

    “I mean look, this isn’t straight altruism and charity work at all. It started in selfishness, it remains in selfishness. This shit is super selfish, it’s not like I’m fucking out here helping the kids, that’s not what’s going on,” he told Dazed Digital. “I’m trying to allow myself some kind of happily-ever-after scenario.”

    He also freely admits that the theater company is just another way to chase the high he experienced while drinking.

    “A big reason I was such a fucking alcoholic is that when I’m fully absorbed, or lost in something, or immersed in something bigger than myself, it’s a high,” he revealed. “So I drank because it allowed me this freedom for a time from this constant chatter, this self-monitoring of my daily life, right? This fucking anxious self-scrutiny, this non-stop chatter, and I lose that in these workshops when I’m caught up in the work that we’re making as a group. It is a high. I’m chasing a high.”

    Things weren’t always rosy for LaBeouf, who garnered negative scrutiny in 2017 after telling a black officer that another black officer was “a black man who arrested me for being white in a city that don’t have nothing to do with none of it.”

    LaBeouf Will Portray His Father, Who Battles Alcoholism, In His New Film

    In a video of the arrest, LaBeouf belligerently questions why the officers would enforce the law for a president and a police force that “doesn’t give a f— about you.”

    “So you wanna arrest, what, white people who give a f— who ask for cigarettes? I came up trying to be nice, you stupid b—,” LaBeouf said on camera, among other things. “I got more millionaire lawyers than you know what to do with, you stupid b—.”

    The officers report that the incident began when a stranger refused LaBeouf’s request for a cigarette.

    Now, LaBeouf is taking the root of his trauma head-on in the upcoming film, Honey Boy, wherein he plays his own alcoholic father.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Riverdale's Lili Reinhart Opens Up About Depression, Getting Treatment

    Riverdale's Lili Reinhart Opens Up About Depression, Getting Treatment

    “We are all human. And we all struggle. Don’t suffer in silence. Don’t feel embarrassed to ask for help,” Reinhart noted on Instagram.

    Riverdale actress Lili Reinhart used Instagram to announce through her Instagram story that she is again seeking help for anxiety and depression.

    The 22-year-old actress is best known for her Riverdale character, Betty—the part that launched her into stardom. By then, Reinhart had already experienced a profound bout with depression, at 18 when she came to Hollywood.

    She became physically sick from depression and moved home to North Carolina for help. After six months of working on her mental and emotional health, she returned to Hollywood, eventually landing the starring role that would make her a household name.

    Reinhart has been public about her mental health struggles, but not without concerns about the level of transparency she’s chosen. She told Teen Vogue, “It’s very much a constant balance of what do I share? What do I not share? I want to be authentic, but I also don’t want to give everyone parts of myself that they don’t need to know about.”

    Still, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, the show’s creator and showrunner, told Teen Vogue of Reinhart, “She has a lot of contradictions, but the big thing is there’s nothing we can’t write for Lili that she cannot do. She’s sort of fearless.”

    This week Reinhart spoke about her depression and anxiety on Instagram, directly addressing those reading her words and encouraging anyone experiencing similar difficulties to speak out and get help if they’re feeling overwhelmed. 

    “Friendly reminder for anyone who needs to hear it,” Reinhart wrote, “Therapy is never something to feel ashamed of. Everyone can benefit from seeing a therapist. Doesn’t matter how old or ‘proud’ you’re trying to be.”

    The actress then added, “We are all human. And we all struggle. Don’t suffer in silence. Don’t feel embarrassed to ask for help. I’m 22. I have anxiety and depression And today I started therapy again.”

    Reinhart shared that her “journey of self-love” included therapy and medication.

    Selena Gomez is another young star who has been open about her mental health issues, which has included mental health facility stays and the therapeutic practice, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. DBT teaches skills such as emotional regulation, improving communication, and incorporating mindfulness practices.

    Gomez told Vogue, “I wish more people would talk about therapy. We girls, we’re taught to be almost too resilient, to be strong and sexy and cool and laid-back, the girl who’s down. We also need to feel allowed to fall apart.”

    Reinhart told Ocean Drive magazine a year ago, “I know so many other young people have [struggles with mental health], and I didn’t have someone who was talking about it. I remember being in middle and high school and hearing Demi Lovato speak up about her mental illness and that was comforting. But I wanted more people to stand up. I needed more people to relate to. I was like, all these people can’t be so happy, can they?”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Charlie Sheen Shares Moment That Led Him To Become Sober

    Charlie Sheen Shares Moment That Led Him To Become Sober

    “If you can’t be available for the basic necessity of being there for your children, then something really needs to shift,” Sheen explained. 

    Actor Charlie Sheen’s drug use—and sobriety—has been a pursuit held in the public eye for years, but in a recent interview, he shared the very private moment which inspired him to change his life for the better for his family and himself.  

    Speaking with Us Weekly, Sheen said it was a request from his daughter for help, and his inability to provide it due to his inebriated state, that forced him to take a look at his behavior.

    “If you can’t be available for the basic necessity of being there for your children, then something really needs to shift,” he explained. Sheen, who recently reached a year of sobriety, added that he is putting his newfound focus and energy into “daily responsibilities,” including his children and his own health.

    In the interview, Sheen recalled the moment when one of his daughters asked him for help in getting to a pressing appointment. “I’d already had a few drinks,” he said, and was forced to call a friend to take him and his daughter to her destination. On the way back, Sheen said, he began to turn over the situation in his head.

    “On the drive back, I was just like, ‘Damn, man, I’m not available,’” he recalled. “‘I’m just not responsible and there’s no nobility in that.’” Sheen said that after pondering the reality of his condition, he decided to take matters seriously. “It was the next day that I said, ‘All right, it’s time. Let’s give this a shot.’”

    With the help of parents, Martin and Janet Sheen, his ex-wives, and friends, Sheen began to amass days of sobriety. “A month went by, a couple of months went by, I’m like, ‘All right. This feels good,’” he said.

    After marking his year in sobriety in December of 2018, Sheen said that he feels “excited to be excited again,” and has devoted his time and energy to his family and his own well-being.

    As for acting, Sheen told Us Weekly that he would like to do a Two and a Half Men revival to gain “closure” on the series, from which he was fired under a cloud of controversy in its ninth season.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Emma Stone Is Doing Her Part To Shatter Mental Health Stigma

    Emma Stone Is Doing Her Part To Shatter Mental Health Stigma

    The actress has joined the board of an organization dedicated to helping children with mental health and learning disorders.

    Actress Emma Stone, who has spoken publicly about her struggles with anxiety, is joining the board of directors at The Child Mind Institute, a non-profit organization that supports children with learning and mental health disorders. 

    “I’m honored to join the board of The Child Mind Institute. This is a stigma-shattering organization I am deeply passionate about, and I’m looking forward to helping the Child Mind Institute continue to advance its critically important work,”  Stone, 30, said in a statement to PEOPLE.

    Stone has dealt with anxiety since she was a teenager, but has said that acting — and therapy — have helped her keep her anxiety under control. She works to let others, especially young people, know that they can have a fulfilling life despite anxiety. 

    “Emma’s courage in openly discussing her story with anxiety is inspirational,” said Dr. Harold S Koplewicz, president of The Child Mind Institute. “It offers hope to millions of kids that it is possible to overcome their own challenges and thrive.”

    In 2017, Stone recorded a video as part of the institute’s awareness campaign that asked people to share what they would like to tell their younger selves. 

    “What I could tell kids who are going through anxiety, which I have, is that you’re so normal it’s crazy,” she said. “It’s so normal, everyone experiences a version of anxiety or worry in their lives and maybe we go through it in a different or more intense way, or for longer periods of time, but there’s nothing wrong with you.”

    Stone talked about the often over-looked flip-side to anxiety.  

    “To be a sensitive person that cares a lot, that takes things in in a deeper way, is actually part of what makes you amazing and is one of the greatest gifts in life: you think a lot, you feel a lot, and it’s the best,” Stone said. “I wouldn’t trade it for the world even when there are really hard times.”

    She said that over time she has learned how to manage her anxiety and what things are likely to set it off.  

    “There are so many tools you can use to help yourself in those [bad] time, and it does get better and easier as life goes on and you get to know yourself more and what will trigger certain instances of anxiety, and where you feel comfortable and safe.” 

    Overall, experiencing anxiety is very common, she said. 

    “Don’t ever feel like you’re a weirdo for it because we’re all weirdos.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Evan Rachel Wood Gets Candid About Psychiatric Hospital Stint At 22

    Evan Rachel Wood Gets Candid About Psychiatric Hospital Stint At 22

    The Westworld actress penned a powerful testimony about her time at a psychiatric hospital for Nylon magazine.

    Evan Rachel Wood first broke through in the movie Thirteen, where she played a troubled teenager. Wood is currently starring on the hit sci-fi show Westworld, and now she’s revealed to Nylon that she checked into a psychiatric hospital when she was 22 years old.

    Wood wrote about her experiences in an essay, where she states, “When I was 22, I willingly checked myself into a psychiatric hospital, and I have absolutely no shame about it. Looking back, it was the worst, best thing that ever happened to me.”

    Wood realized she needed help after a suicide attempt. In the morning, she called her mother: “Mom? It’s me…I just tried to kill myself…I need to go to a hospital.”

    At the time, Wood was more worried about how her mother would take her cry for help.

    “This is how much I worried about others and not myself,” she says today. “I had almost died, but the guilt and responsibility I felt toward others was so extreme.”

    Wood says, “I had collapsed under the stress and pressure of being alive.” She was suffering from PTSD, which she says was the result of suffering “multiple rapes and a severely abusive relationship that went on for years.”

    Her mother asked her why she took what could have been a final step, and Wood told her, “I just wanted some peace.”

    After some searching, Wood found a facility and checked in. She paid “a significant amount of money” for her hospital stay, and she says, “Mental health shouldn’t be a luxury for the rich. It felt like I barely made it by the skin of my teeth – and I am privileged. Imagine how hard it is with no health insurance or money or resources?”

    Wood had seen movies that dealt with mental illness like Girl, Interrupted and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, yet she thankfully realized getting help didn’t fit this Hollywood stereotype.

    After several days of rest, she finally opened up to fellow patients and would later participate in group therapy. Once she started interacting with her fellow patients, she discovered, “…We were incredibly loving and empathetic to each other, even when we disagreed or someone lost their shit. We forgave, very easily.”

    Looking back on this event, Wood says it was “the first time in my entire life” she “asked for help. I admitted I could not go on without someone intervening, to pick me back up off the floor.”

    Wood is still in therapy, and admitted, “I still struggle with PTSD, but I know that I will get through it. I have better tools now to get through what seems like the impossible times, and most importantly, I know my worth.”

    Wood writes, “There is no economic class, race, sexuality, or gender that is safe from their own mind. We know success doesn’t cure depression, we know that people telling you they love you doesn’t cure depression, we know that just thinking positively doesn’t cure depression. Depression isn’t weakness, it’s a sickness. Sometimes a deadly one. And sometimes all people need is to know that they are loved and that others are there for them. They may not take your hand right away, but knowing it’s there could save their life one day. Or who knows, you might help save your own.”

    If you or someone you know may be at risk for suicide, immediately seek help. You are not alone.

    Options include:

    Calling the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 800-273-TALK (8255)

    Calling 911

    Calling a friend or family member to stay with you until emergency medical personnel arrive to help you.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Kevin Zegers Defends Decision To Tell His Young Kids About Alcoholism

    Kevin Zegers Defends Decision To Tell His Young Kids About Alcoholism

    After posting a video where his three-year-old twins call him an alcoholic, Kevin Zegers later explained his decision to inform them about his condition.

    Kevin Zegers won praise for his response to online uproar about a post on his Instagram page in which his young children described their father as an “alcoholic.” Zegers, 34, an award-winning actor whose credits include Transamerica, Fear the Walking Dead and most recently, Dirty John, is currently in recovery for alcohol dependency, which in his response, he described as “part of his life.”

    He defended his decision to inform his children about his condition as an effort teach the girls “some empathy and understanding about addiction,” and chose to share the video as a means of “crack[ing] the window open so others can see what’s possible on the other side.”

    In the video, posted on January 22, 2019, Zegers’ wife, talent agent Jamie Feld, is heard asking the couple’s twin three-year-old daughters, “What is Daddy?” Both answer, “An alcoholic.” She then asks them where Zegers is at that moment, and then tells them that he is at an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting. Zegers himself added the caption, “Learning ’em young. #aameeting.”  

    While response from some of Zegers’ followers was positive, others considered the couple’s transparency as giving the children information that may beyond their understanding.

    On January 23, 2019, Zegers himself posted a response to the latter followers, which began simply with “Being in recovery is a part of my life. Being an ‘alcoholic” doesn’t mean that I drink.”

    Zegers went on to explain that his decision to inform his daughters about his condition was inspired by their own questions about where he was at their bedtime. “Instead of lying to them, or projecting an archaic stigma, we choose to tell them the truth. ‘Daddy’s at a meeting,’” he wrote.

    In addition to imparting “empathy and understanding” about addiction on his children, Zegers also hoped that they would come to understand that inspite of his dependency, he has “chosen to live a clean and sober life that involves much more than drinking” for the past eight years.

    He also noted that his decision to make the video public was an attempt to directly address people like those who posted negative or questioning comments, whom he described as “want[ing] to share people with addiction and mental health issues back into the shadows. My choice is to crack the window open so others can see what’s possible on the other side.”

    Zegers has been frank about his alcohol dependency in the past. In a 2013 interview for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Zegers said that while he never drank while working on a film or television show, he did find that his career had leveled off after the critical success of Transamerica in 2006 because he either refused or “messed up, either intentionally or unintentionally” film projects that followed because of his struggles with alcohol. “But once I actually got sober, things started falling back into the order they were before,” he noted.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Tom Sizemore Arrested For Heroin Possession

    Tom Sizemore Arrested For Heroin Possession

    If convicted, the “Saving Private Ryan” actor could be sentenced to a year in jail.

    Actor Tom Sizemore has been charged for possession of heroin and faces the possibility of a year in jail and a monetary fine.

    TMZ reported that Sizemore, whose film and television roles include Saving Private Ryan and the recent Twin Peaks reboot, was charged with two counts of possession of heroin and two counts of possession of medication without a prescription by the Burbank City Attorney in California, after police reportedly discovered the drugs in his car during a routine stop.

    All four charges are misdemeanors, but if convicted, Sizemore could be incarcerated for up to a year in jail and subjected to a $1,000 fine.

    According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sizemore was pulled over by police officers from the Burbank Police Department on January 5, 2019, because his vehicle had expired registration tags and was missing its front license plate.

    Arrest records show that Sizemore, who was traveling with a male passenger, consented to a search of his vehicle, during which officers found heroin and another substance, initially described as methamphetamine in early media reports, but labeled in the city attorney’s documents as “medication without a prescription.”

    Both Sizemore and his passenger were reportedly released after posting bail.

    If Sizemore is convicted, the misdemeanor charges do not carry the possibility of a prison sentence, but he could be sentenced to a year in jail, which is designated by local law enforcement or government agencies for holding inmates awaiting trial or serving short sentences. 

    A Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Award nominee, Sizemore has a long history of run-ins with the law, including a 2003 conviction for physical abuse and harassment against then-girlfriend and “Hollywood Madam” Heidi Fleiss and a 2007 arrest for methamphetamine possession.

    Last year, Sizemore was named in a lawsuit by a former child actress who claimed that he had sexually molested her during the production of a 2003 film. Sizemore denied the charges via a statement from his publicist.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Glenn Close Discusses Mental Health Stigma

    Glenn Close Discusses Mental Health Stigma

    The “Damages” actress spoke about the stigma surrounding those with mental health issues during a recent lecture. 

    Golden Globe winner and vocal mental health advocate Glenn Close took another opportunity to speak on the dangers of stigma against mental illness during a recent lecture in central Ohio.

    The renowned actress was invited to speak as part of the Jefferson Series, described as “a collection of stimulating forums featuring some of the world’s most compelling and esteemed thinkers” that takes place in New Albany, Ohio each year.

    During her lecture, Close talked about mental illness in her family and about her book Resilience: Two Sisters and a Story of Mental Illness. Her sister, Jessie Close, has bipolar disorder and Glenn Close herself has dealt with depression at times throughout her life.

    However, due largely to stigma against mental illness and a silence around the issue within their family, Jessie remained undiagnosed until the age of 50.

    According to a CBS interview from March 2018, Glenn Close was alarmed to discover how often those with bipolar disorder die by suicide and realized that she could have easily lost her sister.

    According to an analysis published in the US National Library of Medicine, researchers have found that anywhere from 25 to 60% of people with bipolar disorder have a history of attempting suicide. In the general adult population in the US, the rate of attempted suicide is 0.5%.

    These revelations led the two Close sisters to establish the anti-stigma foundation Bring Change 2 Mind in 2010. Glenn Close has since used her fame to speak out against the stigma surrounding mental illness that kept her family quiet on the issue for so long.

    “I come from a family that had no vocabulary for mental illness,” Close wrote in 2016. “Toxic stigma and the social mores of the time made any conversation about possible mental health issues taboo. The lack of conversation was very costly.”

    In addition to the sisters’ illnesses, Jessie Close’s son, Calen, has schizophrenia and spent two years in a hospital for those with mental health issues.

    In her recent lecture, Close encouraged people to examine their own attitudes around mental illness that might be preventing them from seeking help or offering help to a struggling family member.

    “You have to examine yourself to see whether you have any kind of stigma that’s just been inadvertently fed into you and then realize your family member can lead a viable life,” she said. “You can have a life, but you have to get help. And the sooner you get help, the better your life will be.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Rob Lowe Talks Replacing Alcohol With Exercise

    Rob Lowe Talks Replacing Alcohol With Exercise

    “It became an outlet for all of the tension, stresses, compulsivity. I funneled the addiction, frankly, into that,” said the Parks & Rec actor. 

    More than 28 years ago, actor Rob Lowe hit the gym to convince himself that he didn’t have a substance abuse problem. As long as he could run breakneck sprints—a quarter-mile in 60 seconds—he told himself he was okay, Lowe said in a recent interview with Men’s Health.

    Although he never lost the ability to do the sprints, at some point his alcohol abuse was undeniable. When he got sober 28 years ago he made exercise his coping mechanism. 

    “It became an outlet for all of the tension, stresses, compulsivity,” said Lowe, who got sober when he was 26. “I funneled the addiction, frankly, into that.” 

    Today, workouts are still part of the recovery program that Lowe works every day. His mornings begin with a run or a spin routine, before doing weights or circuit training. He forces himself to be present in the moment, giving himself a mental as well as a physical workout, sans music. 

    “I don’t want to have the smoothie stand. I don’t want to look at beautiful women when I work out. I like the forced mental solitude of it,” said Lowe. “Inevitably, it will force you to start working through things you’re not going to if you’re listening to Jay-Z.”

    His sons, who are 23 and 25, introduced him to surfing, and now he is more skilled at the sport than they are. It appealed to him because it complements his recovery. 

    Lowe said, “You’re always chasing a high that you’re probably not going to ever repeat. Conditions change, so no waves ever just stay the same. Nothing can ever stay the same. Nothing.”

    However, Lowe’s love for exercise isn’t all about high-brow beliefs. He admits that he loves to look good, saying, “Men deny having vanity—that’s the greatest vanity. Not me. I’m vain as fuck.”

    In addition to his workouts, Lowe maintains a strict diet inspired by Atkins. He also does intermittent fasting, replacing breakfast with a mid-morning snack. 

    Lowe, who is now 54, says he feels just as good as he did when he was newly sober in his late twenties. “I feel exactly like that guy,” he said. “And I see him.”

    In 2015, Lowe took to Twitter to celebrate 25 years of sobriety. He wrote, “To those struggling with addiction, there is true, real hope. 25 years ago today, I found recovery; and a life of promise. #Grateful”

    View the original article at thefix.com