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Tag: sober celebs

  • 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

  • Tim Allen Says 21 Years Of Sobriety Is His "Biggest Blessing"

    Tim Allen Says 21 Years Of Sobriety Is His "Biggest Blessing"

    The prolific comedian entered rehab after a 1997 DUI arrest and has been sober since. 

    Tim Allen has had a lot of success in his career with his hit shows Home Improvement and Last Man Standing, and he’s also had success on the big screen with the Santa Clause comedies, Galaxy Quest, and for providing the voice of Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story movies. But he’s celebrating an even greater success these days, which is marking over two decades of sobriety.

    Allen told Parade, “To be perfectly frank, I’m going on 21 years sober. That’s the biggest blessing in my life.”

    Allen went through a terrible trauma when he lost his father at the age of 11. “When my dad was killed, we had a priest that said, ‘He’s in a better place,’ and I kind of snapped, like, ‘What are we doing here, then?!’”

    Before he became famous, Allen did nearly two and a half years in federal prison for cocaine possession. Allen told the Washington Times, “It was a watershed moment. It put me in a position of great humility and I was able to make amends to friends and family and refocus my life on setting and achieving goals.”

    Allen turned to comedy after getting out of jail in 1981. The Toy Story star called comedy his “coping mechanism. It always has been.”

    After Allen got busted for a DUI in 1997, he checked into rehab, and has been sober ever since. He told the Huffington Post, “For me, I was done! I was just done! And I didn’t know where to turn. A physician friend of mine told me a long time ago, you’ve just got to ask for help…if you need help, it’s the first thing you go to in the phone book, and it’s free. It’s a program that’s always got its doors open, there are no dues or fee.”

    Allen added, “It is a disease of the soul and the mind, and it will tear up the people around you. It’s a matter of hitting a personal bottom…I was tired of my excuses, I was tired of the shame and the guilt…so much energy to manage it. It was unmanageable. I sat there [and] I said to whatever God that was watching over me: ‘Help me! I will do what you want.’ I’m a guy who doesn’t like ‘organized’ anything but AA is just brilliant to me.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Lee Daniels Does Not Sugarcoat His Feelings About Sobriety

    Lee Daniels Does Not Sugarcoat His Feelings About Sobriety

    Daniels got candid about how much he hates being sober in a recent interview. 

    There’s apparently nothing magical about being sober for Lee Daniels. He said as much in a recent conversation with Vulture.

    “I’m angsty and I’m sober, so that is really weird to be going to the Met Ball and to other social activities not intoxicated,” said Daniels, co-creator, executive producer and director of the television series Empire. “I hate fucking being sober. It’s a bore. It’s a fucking snooze.”

    Daniels is nearing the end of Empire, which will end after its upcoming sixth season, and Star, a spinoff of Empire. But the Academy Award nominated, director, producer, and film and TV writer isn’t bothered. His most notable projects include Monster’s Ball (as producer), Precious and The Butler, which he directed—working with hit makers like Oprah Winfrey, Jane Fonda, Forest Whitaker, Halle Berry and more.

    When asked if he gave up drinking as well as hard drugs, he replied, “I don’t do anything. It’s really hard, but believe me, I’ve done enough for everybody.”

    Daniels recalled seeking comfort in alcohol as a young gay man in the 1970s. “I never really even liked to drink, but I drank because my father told me if he ever saw me with a man he would kill me,” he continued. “And until I was 22, I had to get drunk to actually go through with the process. And then the drug scene came. And then all your friends start dying of AIDS. Not one, not two, not three, I’m talking intimate friends that you’ve had sex with, you’ve had dreams with, hopes with, people that are better souls than you, gone. And you can’t figure out, Why the fuck am I still here? So then it was like me on drugs and drinking, not even knowing I was an addict but just erasing all the pain.”

    In a 2015 article by IndieWire, he said, “I don’t get it, I really don’t get it. So much so that I went out and did drugs to figure out why I didn’t get it. And then had a heart attack and kept going because I didn’t understand.”

    He breezed over a phone call he’d had with singer Patti LaBelle—“not a little high, a lot high”—and she asked, “Do you know Jesus?” Daniels said, “I said a prayer and I think that was the end of my drugs.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Lisa Marie Presley Writes About Painkiller Addiction, Opioid Crisis

    Lisa Marie Presley Writes About Painkiller Addiction, Opioid Crisis

    The daughter of music legend Elvis Presley opened up about her struggles with opioids.

    Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley, wrote about going public with her struggles with painkiller abuse in a foreword for the new book, The United States of Opioids: A Prescription for Liberating a Nation in Pain by Harry Nelson.

    In the foreword, Presley tells the story of the first time she spoke publicly about her experiences with addiction.

    Last August, Presley was on Today to promote Where No One Stands Alone, a gospel compilation album featuring archival recordings of Elvis’ vocals with new instrumentals and mixing. When the interview took a turn towards the topic of addiction, Presley did not shy away.

    “I’m not perfect. My father wasn’t perfect, no one’s perfect. It’s what you do with it after you learn and then you try to help others with it,” said Presley, referring to her father’s famous substance abuse problems.

    On the show, she also revealed what life was like prior to finding recovery.

    “I was not happy,” she said. “And by the way, the struggle and addiction for me started when I was 45 years old. It wasn’t like it was happening all my life. I have a therapist and she was like, ‘You’re a miracle. I don’t know how you’re still alive.’”

    Presley chose to open up in hopes of helping others, she revealed in her foreword.

    “I had never openly spoken in public about my own addiction to opioids and painkillers,” she revealed. “I wasn’t sure that I was ready to share on such a personal topic.”

    Her own problems with painkillers began in 2008 when she was prescribed opioids while recovering from having her twin daughters, Vivienne and Finley. Her substance abuse problems began earlier than that, and she credits Scientology for getting her clean after a big, final bender.

    “I was on a 72-hour bender,” she said. “Cocaine, sedatives, pot and drinking—all at the same time. I never got my hands on heroin, but it’s not like I wouldn’t have taken it. I just couldn’t be sober. I don’t know how I lived through it.”

    She eventually found recovery and hopes that stigma will be abolished.

    “It is time for us to say goodbye to shame about addiction… Across America and the world, people are dying in mind-boggling numbers because of opioid and other drug overdoses,” wrote Presley in the foreword. “Many more people are suffering silently, addicted to opioids and other substances. I am writing this in the hope that I can play a small part in focusing attention on this terrible crisis.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Zachary Quinto Speaks Out About Getting Sober

    Zachary Quinto Speaks Out About Getting Sober

    Quinto recently went on Instagram to celebrate his sober milestone.

    Actor Zachary Quinto, known for playing Spock in the Star Trek reebot, opened up about his sobriety on Instagram and says he hopes that his honesty will encourage others to stay the course as well.

    Quinto announced on Instagram on May 24 that he has hit his three-year sober landmark. “I guess I wrote the right jumper for the occasion, when I think about how far I’ve come and how much I’ve grown and how much more I love myself…I’m really blown away.”

    Quinto, who is currently starring in the horror series NOS4A2, continued that he’s “very far from perfect – but perfectly flawed. And Working every day to honor and realize my full potential. Three years ago I had lost a connection to gratitude almost entirely. Today I am brimming with it. For this touchstone. For life’s abundance. For true friends. For support. For the sweet freedom of this journey. May it continue with compassion – curiosity – honesty and above all…LOVE.”

    As Quinto said on The Today Show, “I felt like there was… I was very proud of that accomplishment for myself. To share my experience and to encourage other people who are interested in that journey for themselves is something that I have a real privilege to be able to do. I felt like it was a moment where I wanted to take that opportunity, and just acknowledge that my experience in life is entirely different now than it was three years ago, and I couldn’t be more grateful and happier for that.”

    This year Quinto also appeared at a Q&A for the Rubin Museum with Dr. Judith Grisel called “The Power of Addiction.” Quinto lost his father when he was seven, but he had a fairly stable upbringing all things considered.

    “I didn’t have my first drink until I was 17 or 18,” he said. “And I didn’t smoke pot until I was around the same age… It wasn’t until I achieved a certain level of success that I began to drink problematically. Into my thirties, the things I had been fighting for, I got. I was at events with open bars all the time, drinking became a socially accepted way to navigate those rooms.”

    Quinto said, “I was just so miserable. I looked around at my life and said, ‘There’s no reason for me to be this unhappy.’ The most glaring component that was missing from my life was gratitude. I couldn’t be grateful, and I had so much for which to be grateful. I didn’t lose everything, I didn’t ruin relationships, I had what I think people refer to as a high bottom. There was one day when I was like, I can’t do this anymore.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Lena Dunham Celebrates Birthday With Recovery House Fundraiser

    Lena Dunham Celebrates Birthday With Recovery House Fundraiser

    Dunham also took to Instagram to urge her followers to donate toward an LA-based recovery home for women.

    Lena Dunham — who opened up this year about her struggles with addiction — hosted a birthday party fundraiser for The Friendly House, a recovery home for women struggling with substance use disorder.

    “Today, rather than presents, I’d love for you to donate to Friendly House, which is dedicated to helping women navigate the journey through addiction to recovery. It’s a journey I know first hand can only be attempted with love and support, which is why I have started a scholarship fund for women who are determined to recover but don’t have the financial means to begin,” Dunham wrote on Instagram.

    She continued, “It brings me such joy to think of how together we can directly affect so many women who have forgotten that they matter.”

    Dunham said that in the past she has shied away from celebrating her birthday, but after achieving one year of sobriety in April she was ready to be in the spotlight.

    “I may own a birthday bitch hat, but IRL I’m no big birthday bitch. For someone who loves both attention and presents, I’ve sure cancelled a lotta bday parties at the last minute,” she wrote. “I used to think there was something a bit unseemly about an adult leaning into their birthday, until I realized I was actually just jealous of the confidence and self-love it takes to say ‘it’s my day, people!’ I often felt I was making up for some original sin and that the nicest thing I could do for others on my birthday was make myself as unobtrusive as possible (it never worked and I usually either barfed or cried.)”

    She went on, “But this year is different. This year I’m… wait for it… happy. And so grateful for where I am, who I am, and everyone who has helped me on my journey to health & sobriety. 32 was good to me, and for 33 I wanted to say a big old thank you.”

    Dunham spoke about her addiction to anxiety medications on Dax Shepard’s podcast Armchair Expert in November.

    “It stopped being, ‘I take one when I fly,’ and it started being like, ‘I take one when I’m awake,’” she said. She realized that her medications were no longer helping her, and that she had become dependent on them.

    “I still feel like my brain is recalibrating itself to experience anxiety,” she said at the time. “I just feel, literally, on my knees grateful every day.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Howard Stern "Very Sad" About Former Sidekick Artie Lange

    Howard Stern "Very Sad" About Former Sidekick Artie Lange

    The shock jock wishes the best for Lange, who is doing community service following a 2018 drug conviction.

    Radio host Howard Stern is sad about what’s happening with Artie Lange, according to the New York Times Magazine. On what has been a rocky journey between drug abuse and recovery, Lange is doing community service for a 2018 heroin possession charge.

    “I choose my words about Artie carefully, because I love him,” said Stern. “What’s happening with Artie makes me very sad.”

    Lange has long struggled with substance abuse, evident in his deviated septum that was a result of years of cocaine and heroin abuse.

    In 2009, Lange was asked to leave The Howard Stern Show over his excessive drug use. The next year, Lange attempted to commit suicide by drinking bleach and repeatedly stabbing himself in the stomach.

    “We’ve lost touch, and that’s my doing. I got my fingers crossed for the guy. And it wasn’t a clean break. It was many years of wanting Artie to get help.”

    Eventually, the split between Lange and the show was made permanent.

    “I know that a lot of fans want me to talk about Artie and feel it’s a cop-out for me not to,” commented Stern. “I’ll take that. I don’t want to do anything that would rock his boat. I get sad talking about Artie. He was a tremendous contributor. But we had to move on.”

    Lange’s fellow comedians urged him to get help as he struggled.

    “Artie, this is my 1000th request over decades to beg you to surrender to your addictions,” tweeted Richard Lewis. “We had the most laughs sober. I love you. You’re beloved and a magnificent comedian cursed with self loathing and fear. Give it up and live.”

    Comedian Jackie Martling also said his piece.

    “coming up to 18 years [sober] in May. in early 2001 I’d have laughed at the idea of not drinking for 18 *days.* Art, I know you know the laughs are just as hearty on this side. I love you and am of course 100% in your very crowded corner,” he tweeted.

    As for Lange, he passed a message to his fans through his Twitter team.

    “It’s true i’m working to satisfy my drug court program. I work with great people. Nothing wrong with a little hard work. Love you all and can’t wait to be back on stage,” Lange said, according to the tweet.

    A representative for Lange confirmed that “this is work Artie is doing as part of his [New Jersey] drug court case. He is working with a refuse company daily as he continues treatment.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Rob Lowe Reflects On 29 Years Of Sobriety

    Rob Lowe Reflects On 29 Years Of Sobriety

    The actor shared a message of positivity on Instagram as he celebrated the milestone.

    Actor Rob Lowe celebrated 29 years sober from drugs and alcohol in an Instagram post. In the caption of a photo of his younger self, he left some encouraging words to anyone who finds themselves on a similar path to his.

    “Today I celebrate 29 years of sobriety. Thank you to all those who have inspired me on this wonderful, challenging and life-changing journey,” he captioned the post. “If you, or someone you know, are struggling with alcohol or addiction, there CAN be a future of hope, health and happiness. And it comes one day at a time. #recovery #ItWorks.”

    His post was well-received by fans with over 82,000 likes, including support from big names like actress Demi Moore and supermodel Naomi Campbell. Lowe’s own brother, Chad, also pitched in: “Congratulations!!! Thanks for saving me a seat!!”

    Lowe’s son, Johnny, posted in support of his father. “So proud of you. Love you,” wrote Johnny.

    Lowe’s alcohol use led him to some dark places, including a 1988 sex tape of himself with a 16-year-old girl in Atlanta, where he was supposed to appear in support of Michael Dukakis at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. He says the incident helped him realize how far he had fallen.

    “It ends up being the greatest thing that ever happened to me,” he said in a 2011 interview with Oprah. “Because what it ends up doing is accelerating my alcohol [addiction] to where I finally get sober. I have been able to have the rest of my life that I’m so blessed with, which is now 20 years of sobriety.”

    The Parks and Recreation star has been open about his struggles, including how he problematically replaced his substance addictions with exercise.

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

    Eventually Lowe was able to approach exercise with a healthier mentality, integrating it as a way to understand himself.

    “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.”

    Most importantly, he was able to admit to himself that he exercised for the wrong reason—to look good.

    “Men deny having vanity—that’s the greatest vanity. Not me. I’m vain as fuck,” confessed Lowe.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Craig Ferguson Talks Sobriety, Alcoholism

    Craig Ferguson Talks Sobriety, Alcoholism

    “There were many points along the way where I could have gone off that awful train and I didn’t,” Ferguson told People Now.

    Former late-night host Craig Ferguson wants people with alcoholism to know they can stop drinking any time—they don’t need to wait for the big rock bottom moment.

    Ferguson, who has been sober for 27 years, said that he didn’t have one rock bottom situation, but a series of times when he realized he needed to change his relationship with alcohol, according to People.

    “There were many points along the way where I could have gone off that awful train and I didn’t,” he said. “If I would impart one message to the drinking alcoholics now… if you want to stop you can stop now. You don’t have to wait for it to get worse.”

    He continued, “‘Where’s my big moment?’ It’s here. If you’re worried about your drinking there’s probably a reason.”

    Ferguson, who is promoting his new book Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations, and Observations, also discussed sobriety with Daniel Asa Rose of The Washington Post.

    “You really were quite the accomplished drinker in your day, weren’t you? At one point, you mention that one of your acquaintances said you were the ‘alkiest alky’ she’d ever met. Are there moments when you really miss the sauce?” Rose asked.

    “No. Couldn’t have written this book. I’m glad I did it and glad it’s over,” Ferguson said.

    He continued, “Y’know, quitting was instrumental in my writing. The conversation in pubs I thought I’d miss was more than compensated for by the talk at [AA] meetings. That may be where I picked up my rambling manner.”

    Two years ago Ferguson went on Twitter to mark 25 years of sobriety. “I’m 25 years sober today and anyone who knew me back then would tell you how impossible that is. Thanks for the miracle,” he wrote.

    While Ferguson is normally no-holds-barred with the jokes, in 2007 he delivered a famous monologue urging people to be more kind to celebrities who are struggling with addiction or mental health issues.

    “At what price am I doing this stuff?” Ferguson said.

    At the time, he said that he wouldn’t be making fun of Britney Spears, who was clearly struggling. “What she’s going through—it reminds me of what I was doing. It reminds me of where I was 15 years ago,” he said.

    Ferguson said that he was uncomfortable making fun of people who obviously needed help.

    “I have found that the only way I can deal with [alcoholism] is to find other people who have similar experiences and talk to them. It doesn’t cost anything. And they’re very easy to find. They’re very near the front of the telephone book. Good luck,” Ferguson said, referring to AA.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Jack Osbourne Celebrates 16 Years Of Sobriety

    Jack Osbourne Celebrates 16 Years Of Sobriety

    The son of heavy metal legend Ozzy Osbourne took to Instagram to celebrate his sober milestone. 

    Jack Osbourne, son of legendary metal madman Ozzy Osbourne, and his sister Kelly, have been open about inheriting the struggle of addiction from the family genes. Now Jack has hit social media to celebrate 16 years of sobriety.

    On his Instagram, Osbourne posted the image of an overcast blue sky, with the following stats:

    Twelve Steps

    You’ve been sober for: 16.00 Years, 192.00 Months, 5,845 Days, 140,263 Hours.

    Osbourne, who also lives with MS, wrote, “By far this has 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. But I continued to do it sober even in the face of legit pain and sadness.”

    Osbourne went through a divorce from Lisa Stelly, his wife of seven years, had to adjust to raising three young girls as a single dad, and had to be there “for my family when they have needed support at the post.” (Papa Ozzy recently had a bout with pneumonia and has canceled all concert appearances for the year.)

    Jack went to rehab at the age of 17 for an OxyContin addiction, and as he continued in his Instagram post, “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. Even though this last year of sobriety was filled with so much pain it all led to some fantastic personal growth.

    “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 cast,” Osbourne continues. “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. I will be grateful for all you did.”

    Looking back on going in to rehab at 17, Osbourne told Blabbermouth, “I took myself out of the picture for a second and I looked around at every single person in the room, at who they were, how old they were and what they had going on in their lives. A lot of them were near 30, unemployed, living off their parents. They were heroin addicts, they were the world’s biggest couch potatoes. And it was like, ‘I don’t want to be like that. I don’t want my life to be controlled by a drug…I was really loaded and I just sat on my mom’s bed and said, ‘I am going to go pack my bags, I’m in, I’m ready to go. I want to go, I need to go.”

    View the original article at thefix.com