Jamie Lee Curtis reflects on 22 years of sobriety: 'One day at a time'
"I kept it hidden," the actress said of her struggles with substance use.
Jamie Lee Curtis is looking back on how far she's come in her sobriety journey.
The actress, 62, shared a post on Wednesday in which she marked 22 years of sobriety and shared what led her to embrace the lifestyle.
"A LONG time ago… In a galaxy far, far away… I was a young STAR at WAR with herself," she wrote in an Instagram post. "I didn't know it then. I chased everything. I kept it hidden. I was [as] sick as my secrets."
"With God's grace and the support of MANY people who could relate to all the 'feelings' and a couple of sober angels...I've been able to stay sober, one day at a time, for 22 years," she continued.
Curtis shared an image of her younger self holding a drink and posing next to a bottle of alcohol with her message.
"I was a high bottom, pun kind of intended, so the rare photo of me proudly drinking in a photo op is very useful to help me remember," she said about the throwback snap.
In her post, the actress also shared a message to those who might also be battling addiction. "To all those struggling and those who are on the path…MY HAND IN YOURS," she wrote.
In recent years, Curtis has opened up more about her struggles with alcohol and painkillers. In an interview with Variety for its Recovery Issue in 2019, the actress described herself 20 years ago as a "wildly controlled drug addict and alcoholic."
She said no one know about it at the time and that it was writer Tom Chiarella’s story about his painkiller struggles in Esquire magazine, published in 1999, that led her to go to her first recovery meeting.
The actress spoke to People about her opioid use in 2019 as well, revealing she started taking them in the late 1980s and continued for 10 years until going to the recovery meeting.
Curtis has also been transparent about the history of substance use in her family. Her late father, actor Tony Curtis, battled alcohol, cocaine and heroin use throughout his life and her half-brother, Nicholas Curtis, died from a heroin overdose in 1994.
"I’m breaking the cycle that has basically destroyed the lives of generations in my family," the actress told People. "Getting sober remains my single greatest accomplishment ... bigger than my husband, bigger than both of my children and bigger than any work, success, failure. Anything."
If you or someone close to you needs help for a substance use disorder, call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) or visit FindTreatment.gov, SAMHSA’s Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator.
