Just because someone looks like they’re doing well on the outside doesn’t mean they really have it all together. Sometimes it is easier for individuals going into recovery when they can see that even famous people who look very successful are in recovery too. Here are 10 celebrities who are in recovery and doing well:
- John Stamos is a well-loved actor who has starred in some very popular shows, like Full House and General Hospital. Many people don’t realize that he has had to fight his own demons, and his story sounds similar in many ways to people you personally know in recovery. Already struggling with depression, John used alcohol and substances to help him deal with the pain. Then his father died, he got divorced, and his mother died. He hit bottom in 2016 after getting a charge of DUI, after which he checked himself into rehab. Now sober, he tells the story of his troubles and how he came to sobriety.
- Nobody was really surprised that Stephen King was fighting demons, because the stories he told were so frightening and familiar. Even though he has a strong relationship with his wife and loving children, King lost his father early and spent his life worrying about losing his mother. He drank to battle his depression until his family staged an intervention in 1987 and convinced him he needed to get better. He has been sober since that fateful time.
- Ben Affleck opened up about his addiction in 2016 because he wanted to offer his experience to help others. He knew that he could use his status as a celebrity to provide hope for people who felt hopeless. His main motivation seems to be that he realized how his behavior was affecting his family, and he entered treatment with the goals of becoming a better father and a better partner to his ex-wife so they could parent their children together.
- Demi Lovato has been in recovery since 2011, and she also uses her celebrity status to help others. She successfully completed rehab and tells her story of her new way of life, sharing her personal challenges. Demi says that people have told her that her testimonial helped them to get sober.
- One woman who looks like she could take on anything is Jamie Lee Curtis. It seems surprising that she struggled with addiction, and she says her recovery from drug addiction is her greatest accomplishment in life. One of the great messages she shares is that it is possible to find help almost anywhere around you.
- Surprisingly, Rob Lowe has been sober for over a quarter of a century. It seems impossible that anyone could be sober that long, but he says that after his struggles with addiction, he found a life of promise. Now he shares his message of hope to help other people find recovery.
- Matthew Perry was one of the funniest people on television for a while, but inside he was suffering. His struggle with alcohol and pills became so bad that he says everyone finally knew about it, and he couldn’t hide it anymore. He opened up Perry’s House, a men’s sober living facility, to help other people going through the same kinds of struggles.
- Robert Downey Jr. started using drugs when he was just a child, and his struggles included multiple arrests and two escapes from rehab. Thanks to the support of family and friends, he got sober and made a comeback. He also describes a moment of clarity at the beginning of his recovery that has helped him stay focused.
- Eric Clapton says that during the throes of his addiction he was spending $16,000 a week to fund his addiction. He was able to afford more than regular people and chose to spend his money on acid, cocaine, mescaline, and alcohol. He survived decades of drug use and now shares his story with both words and song.
- Even the star of Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe, struggled with alcoholism as an adolescent. He drank to deal with uncomfortable feelings and says he showed up on the set still drunk sometimes. He didn’t like what his addiction did to his personality, and now uses his celebrity status to bring awareness to recovery.