Drew Barrymore’s Views on Breaking Alcohol Abuse

Drew Barrymore takes pride in breaking the cycle of alcohol abuse, which has been running in her family for years and years. 

She Has a Family History of Alcoholics

Just like acting, alcoholism runs in her family line. Her grandfather, John Barrymore, a Shakespearean actor, died of excessive alcohol intake, her aunt Diana was addicted to drugs and alcohol, and Drew’s father was also alcoholic. Drew revealed that she drank at 9 and smoked pot at the age of 10. She went through drug rehabilitation treatment twice when she was 13. 

She Slayed the Dragon

The Charlie’s Angels fame confesses her three and a half years of sobriety in the essay, “Take Care of Yourself.” The lines of her essay pour the liberation she gained by restraining the addiction. Drew says, “One of the bravest things you can do is slay those dragons and finally change an awful cycle in which you’ve found yourself stuck. For me, it was to stop drinking.”

 

For Drew, breaking the chain of alcohol addiction is the most honorable thing she has done to the Barrymore name. Further, she asks not to look at her as the pillar of health and wellness, or having it all together. 

“It’s just like, you know what? This didn’t work for our family, and I’m going to stop it. I’m going to be the one to break the link in that chain and maybe my kids and their kids will be better off for it”, she adds.