Drew Barrymore's drinking got so intense after her divorce from Will Kopelman that she even drove her own therapist away.
During an interview with the Los Angeles Times, the actor admitted that she began drinking excessively after her four-year marriage ended in 2016, which prompted her to seek professional help from therapist Barry Michels — but he eventually quit.
"He just said, 'I can't do this anymore,' " Barrymore recalled. "It was really about my drinking. I said, 'I get it. I've never respected you more. You see I'm not getting better. And I hope, one day, that I can earn your trust back.' "
Barrymore admitted that after her divorce, she felt like she had failed her two daughters, Olive, 10, and Frankie, 8, which drove her to drink. And while friends and her therapist called her out on it, she only managed to regain control in 2019, when she began working on "The Drew Barrymore Show."
"I think the opportunity at a show like this really hit me," she said, revealing that it was after filming the first episode that she decided to get sober. "I was like, 'I can't handle this unless I'm in a really clear place.' "
Two years later, Barrymore reconnected with Michels, and they were able to resume their professional relationship.
"You seem to be so inspired by everybody else, but you treat yourself like s**t," Barrymore said of herself. "When are you going to be enough for yourself?"
Barrymore has been open about her struggles with alcohol. Writing a personal essay for her magazine "Drew" in November, the actor opened up about finding sobriety and how she is now prioritizing self-care.
"Maybe our definition of love changes throughout our lives, but I truly believe so much love goes outward," she wrote, according to Entertainment Tonight. "And it can feel selfish to turn that spotlight on ourselves. To make room for me? It just doesn't track sometimes."
Barrymore encouraged her readers and fans to keep this in mind and to put themselves first.
"One of the bravest things you can do," she wrote, "is slay those dragons and finally change an awful cycle in which you've found yourself stuck. For me, it was to stop drinking."
Barrymore added that giving up alcohol allowed her "to finally become free of the torture of guilt and dysfunction."
Speaking with the Los Angeles Times, Barrymore said she remains hopeful for the future.
"I realized that just with me and my girls, I am truly happy," she said. "I'd always thought I'd be on this hamster wheel for this whole life. But maybe there will be something different before the lights go out."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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