Entertainment
Lena Dunham celebrates three years sober after prescription drug addiction: ‘It’s a trippy trip’
Lena Dunham is celebrating three years of sobriety after beating her addiction to prescription medication.
The actress and producer, 34, took to Instagram to share a photo of her now along with one of her in rehab as she marked the milestone achievement.
The Girls creator wrote: ‘So, I’m 3 years sober today. Those aren’t words I ever thought I’d say, because they aren’t words I thought I *needed* to say, but from the moment I began this trip (sobriety is a trippy trip, that’s for sure) I was focused on 3 years, as if it were this magic train that would somehow have carried me far enough from the me I was when I was using- a bad me, a sad me, a just plain not good enough me.
‘This is me today (in a hat knit by my best friend, sober icon @scotlan) and the second photo is the only one I dared take of myself at rehab – and no I don’t look great (I guess you don’t really focus on exfoliation when you’re trying to save your own life?) but I do look like I’m trying pretty hard with that forced lil smile – trying at something like joy.
‘But guess what? We’re worth it even when we are too tired to try, or when we are one day or one hour away from our messiest. We are worth it even when we’re right in the middle of it all.
‘If you are caught in a cycle of pain and shame around addiction, you are so far from alone – there are so many recovering addicts who want and NEED to connect with you and who will hold it down for you no matter what.’
Lena added: ‘Thank you for the love you’ve shown me in the last 3 years as I’ve crawled further away from the center of the storm – but in the process I’ve realized it’s continually storming (that’s alright) AND the sun is shining too. It always was.’
She had previously revealed that she hadn’t considered herself to be an addict as the drugs she was taking were prescription medication rather than illegal substances.
Lena told Variety in 2019: ‘I didn’t think that I was a drug addict. I thought drug addicts were depraved lunatics who wandered the streets, demanding crack from innocent children and flaunting their open wounds in public parks,’ she deadpanned: ‘And I was a successful, capable celebrity who wandered red carpets demanding attention and flaunting her open boobs on TV. It’s totally different.’
She admitted that despite being a ‘chronic over-sharer’ she had been worried about anyone finding out.
Lena added: ‘When I was dropped off at rehab, I thought it was the end of my life. Seemingly overnight, I had lost almost all of what I hold dear: My relationships, my body and my career were in relative shambles.’
Thankfully, the rehab programme later left her ‘living a life that’s beyond my wildest imagination’ as she beat the addiction for good.
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