Drew Barrymore may have first entered rehab at age 13, but she found herself dealing with the consequences of her drinking decades later.
The film star and TV host, 48, opened up about the Los Angeles Times about the ultimatum given to her by her decade-long therapist, who was “so worried” he said he wouldn’t treat her again if she didn’t stop drinking.
While Barrymore initially went to drug and alcohol rehab as a teenager, she found herself under the influence of alcohol decades later, following her 2016 divorce from Will Kopelman. According to the star, she felt she let down her two daughters, Olive and Frankie, by divorcing. Having moved to New York before the split to be closer to Kopelman’s family, she now felt lonely and turned to alcohol to help her cope with depression.
“You seem so inspired by everyone, but you treat yourself like crap,” she thought to herself. “When are you going to be enough for yourself?”
Although Barrymore continued drinking because she felt she was still functioning “very well”, her longtime psychoanalyst, Barry Michels, had had enough.
“He just said, ‘I can’t do this anymore,'” Barrymore told the newspaper. “It was really because of my drinking. I said, ‘I understand. I’ve never respected you so much. You see I’m not better. And I hope that one day, I can regain your trust.
Barrymore’s friends were also dealing with the consequences of his drinking. Although producing partner Nancy Juvonen, who is married to former Barrymore co-star Jimmy Fallon, claims her friends gave her a ‘grace period’ after her divorce, they eventually confronted her about it. of his alcohol consumption.
Cameron Diaz, Barrymore’s longtime friend and Charlie’s Angel co-star, says her pal’s drinking was “hard to watch.”
“But I knew if we all stayed with her and gave her the support she needed, she would find her way,” Diaz explained. “I have absolute faith in her. You can’t even understand how hard it was to be her when she was a kid and then she shot the other end with the ability to save herself.
Despite the best efforts of his friends, Barrymore did not stop drinking immediately. But when she had the opportunity to host The Drew Barrymore Show in 2019, she knew it was time for a change.
“I think the opportunity for a show like this really struck me,” Barrymore told the newspaper. “I was like, ‘I can’t handle this unless I’m in a really clear place.'”
Wary of presenting himself as “a perfect puritan”, Barrymore does not call himself “sober” and does not participate in Alcoholics Anonymous. But being able to quit drinking proved to her that “I don’t get stuck.” And after a two-year absence, Michels has agreed to return as a therapist. The actress credits her advice with helping her with other tricky issues. When Kopelman remarried, Barrymore found herself wanting to be his new wife’s “best friend.”
“And my therapist said, ‘That’s a really good thought. But take it easy. Don’t overwhelm the situation. Find your rhythms and limits so you can play for a long time,'” Barrymore recalled.
Now on the cusp of his talk show’s fourth season, Barrymore is still dealing with his insecurities. Remembering the men who threw her in a car and took her to rehab as a teenager, she says she’ll “always have the ‘they’re coming, they’re coming’ mentality,” she said. “It’s the only thing that, unfortunately, I can’t get rid of. I’m pretty sure this is all going to go away any moment, I’m going to be locked down again and I’m going to lose my job.
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