Answer Addiction

Tag: pop stars & sobriety

  • Demi Lovato's Sober New Year's Celebration

    Demi Lovato's Sober New Year's Celebration

    The “Sober” singer took to Instagram to share her celebration with fans. 

    For Demi Lovato, 2018 was a rough year but she made it through and is now sober.

    After singing about relapse and suffering a nearly-fatal overdose in July the singer spent 90 days in rehab, getting out just in time to spend the holidays sober. Despite the ups and downs of the year, the singer took to Instagram to say that she’s looking at 2018 in a positive light. 

    “So grateful for the lessons I’ve learned this year,” Lovato wrote on her Instagram story on New Year’s Eve, according to USA Today. “I will never take another day in life for granted, even the bad ones.”

    Later in the evening, she posted a picture of herself ringing in 2019 with a virgin drink: Martinelli’s sparkling apple cider. Beneath the photo she put the caption #sober. 

    Lovato, who has expressed gratitude for her supportive fans throughout the year, once again thanked everyone who has been by her side through her relapse and recovery. 

    “Thankful for my fans, friends, family and everyone who supported me through this year,” she wrote. “God bless.”

    Lovato stayed away from social media during the time she was in rehab, but during the past month she has again been posting. Before Christmas she expressed frustration with the endless news cycle around her recovery.  

    “People will literally make up stuff to sell a story,” she wrote on Twitter. “Sickening. If I feel like the world needs to know something, I will tell them MYSELF. Otherwise people stop writing about my recovery, because it’s no one’s business but mine.”

    Lovato said that despite the fact that she is famous, she needs space to work through her relapse and recovery on her own. 

    “I still need space and time to heal… someday I’ll tell the world what exactly happened, why it happened and what my life is like today.. but until I’m ready to share that with people please stop prying and making up shit that you know nothing about,” she wrote. “I am sober and grateful to be alive and taking care of ME…All my fans need to know is I’m working hard on myself, I’m happy and clean and I’m SO grateful for their support.”

    Lovato has been very open about her addiction and mental health issues in the past, and in July she promised she would share again in the future — once she knew her health was secure. 

    “I have always been transparent about my journey with addiction,” she wrote. “What I’ve learned is that this illness is not something that disappears or fades with time. It is something I must continue to overcome and have not done yet.” 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Demi Lovato Sets The Record Straight About Her Recovery

    Demi Lovato Sets The Record Straight About Her Recovery

    “I am sober and grateful to be alive and taking care of ME…All my fans need to know is I’m working hard on myself, I’m happy and clean and I’m SO grateful for their support,” Demi Lovato tweeted.

    For Demi Lovato, 2018 was a tough year. After six years of sobriety, Lovato admitted to the public in the song “Sober” that she had relapsed; then after the song’s release, the pop star suffered an overdose on July 24.

    Now she’s posted a series of tweets updating the world about her progress and her need for privacy as she continues her recovery.

    On December 21, the singer launched her tweetstorm by professing her love for her fans and her hatred for the tabloid press. “People will literally make up stuff to sell a story,” she tweeted. “Sickening. If I feel like the world needs to know something, I will tell them MYSELF. Otherwise people stop writing about my recovery, because it’s no one’s business but mine.”

    She also implored, “I still need space and time to heal,” and that “someday I’ll tell the world what exactly happened, why it happened and what my life is like today.. but until I’m ready to share that with people please stop prying and making up shit that you know nothing about.”

    Lovato added, “I am sober and grateful to be alive and taking care of ME…All my fans need to know is I’m working hard on myself, I’m happy and clean and I’m SO grateful for their support.”

    As the holidays approach, Lovato concluded, “I’m so blessed I get to take this time to be with family, relax, work on my mind, body and soul and come back when I’m ready.”

    Last month, it was reported that after she spent 90 days at an in-patient rehab facility, Lovato reached out to her ex-boyfriend, Wilmer Valderrama, for emotional support. She has also been spending time with a sober coach, as well as attending 12-step meetings.

    Lovato has always been open about her struggles with her mental health (the singer suffers from bipolar disorder) and sobriety. After her overdose, fans created a hashtag, #HowDemiHasHelpedMe, where many shared stories of how Lovato’s music and personal troubles encouraged them to get help themselves.

    As Lovato posted on social media in July, “I have always been transparent about my journey with addiction. What I’ve learned is that this illness is not something that disappears or fades with time. It is something I must continue to overcome and have not done yet.” 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • AJ McLean Talks Recent Relapse, Recovery & Self-Care

    AJ McLean Talks Recent Relapse, Recovery & Self-Care

    “I have no shame in saying, I’ve relapsed over the past year. It’s no secret that this is a disease, and that it’s a daily struggle.”

    The Backstreet Boys are wrapping up their Las Vegas residency and are gearing up for their world tour in 2019, which will hit 27 countries—the boy band’s largest arena tour in 18 years.

    AJ McLean, who is in recovery, is up for the challenge. The Backstreet Boy has been to rehab in 2001, 2002 and 2011 for depression and alcohol use, according to People.

    Over the years, he’s learned a few hard lessons about recovery.

    “Sometimes, you’re just going to have the worst days possible,” he said. It’s a daily struggle. “You have to make it a lifestyle, you truly do. It doesn’t mean that you can’t have fun, and can’t be yourself.”

    Seeing recovery as a journey and not a destination also helps McLean stay grounded. “It’s not like, okay, I’m sober, it’s done. I’ll never drink again. No. You have to work at it daily.”

    By maintaining this mindset, McLean is not ashamed to acknowledge his mistakes as a person in recovery. “Look, I have no shame in saying, I’ve relapsed over the past year. It’s no secret that this is a disease, and that it’s a daily struggle.”

    As a father of two young daughters, McLean says it’s easy to forget about his own needs. “You know, it’s interesting about sobriety with family and with kids—you still have to put yourself first, and that’s been a real big struggle for me.”

    But it’s important to balance his family’s needs with his own, McLean says. “It will win if you don’t take care of yourself.”

    “Because I’m still very codependent, I’m Mr. People Pleaser… I want to make sure everyone’s cool,” he said. “[But] if you do that too often, then you forget about taking care of yourself, and you do tend to get lost in the sauce. And that’s happened to me numerous times.”

    After the death of Mac Miller in September, McLean mourned the loss of the young rapper. “I met him a couple of times at radio shows and he was a stand-up guy,” he told Entertainment Tonight in a previous interview. “You would never know that he had a problem—but a lot of people had no idea that I had a problem. Addicts can hide it pretty well, so all my condolences go to his family and friends. He’s another one gone too soon.”

    The Backstreet Boys’ upcoming 10th album is due on January 25, 2019. Then in May, they will embark on their DNA World Tour.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Sia Celebrates Eight Years of Sobriety

    Sia Celebrates Eight Years of Sobriety

    “Eight years sober today. I love you, keep going. You can do it.”

    Pop star Sia celebrated eight years of sobriety this week, after recovering from alcoholism and an addiction to prescription pills. 

    “Eight years sober today. I love you, keep going. You can do it,” she tweeted on Sep. 10. 

    Since joining a 12-step program in 2010, Sia’s career has taken off. In 2014, her Grammy-nominated comeback single, “Chandelier,” included a nod to her past struggles: “Help me, I’m holding on for dear life, won’t look down won’t open my eyes / Keep my glass full until morning light, ’cause I’m just holding on for tonight.”

    Sia, who is now 42, told The New York Times in 2014 that her addiction was, in part, a way to cope with her rise to fame, which she was uncomfortable with at first. 

    “It’s horrible,” she said. “I just wanted to have a private life.”

    At the same time, her tour schedule made it easy to hide her substance abuse. 

    “When you’re in a different place every day, there’s this kind of madness that sets in. It’s easy to get away with getting high, because everybody’s drinking on the road,” she said. “None of my friends thought I was an alcoholic, and neither did I.”

    After Sia was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, she began abusing prescription pills. 

    “I was in the back lounge, high on Xanax and alcohol, watching every episode of ER from the beginning,” she said. 

    In 2013, she told Billboard that she was frustrated with her career at the time that she was abusing drugs. 

    “Then I got seriously addicted to Vicodin and oxycodone, and I was always a drinker but I didn’t know I was an alcoholic,” she said. “I was really unhappy being an artist and I was getting sicker and sicker.”

    Unfortunately, Sia’s initial sobriety didn’t help her mental health. She revealed to the New York Times that she came very close to suicide. She even left a note for her dog walker and the hotel manager explaining what was to happen.

    However, when her friend called, Sia changed her mind. 

    Although Sia is famously private, she said that her recovery program encourages her to share, which is why she’s spoken out about her struggles with her addiction and her success in sobriety. 

    View the original article at thefix.com