Born in California in 1975, Drew Barrymore was the daughter of John Drew Barrymore (son of the revered Hollywood and stage star John Barrymore) and Ildiko Jaid Barrymore, who was born in a DP camp in West Germany to Hungarian World War II refugees. Her father was a violent alcoholic who physically abused his wife, and it came as no surprise that Barrymore’s parents divorced when she was nine years old. Though she became a childhood star at age seven after making her debut in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, her life was not all the glitz and glam we’d typically associate with showbiz. Far from it. To say she had a rough childhood would be an understatement.
Drew Barrymore was primarily raised by her mother, a wild person who struggled to make ends meet as a single parent and didn’t act in the responsible way a parent ought to. The following article in the LA Times reports, “Often left with babysitters, Barrymore experienced feelings of abandonment that contributed to a toxic mother-and-daughter dynamic. During one fight, Barrymore wrote, Jaid called her some horrible names; in retaliation, Drew slapped her.”
Drew Barrymore became an addict at the tender age of nine when her mother took her for the first time to the New York nightclub Studio 54. After that, Drew went there with her mother and her mother’s friends multiple times a week. There she was first introduced to drugs, and things started to spiral downward. Drew started drinking at age nine and was smoking marijuana and using cocaine by age 12.
Barrymore’s drug habits got her blacklisted by Hollywood producers at age 12. At 13, she was forcibly sent to rehabilitation by her mother, where she spent 18 months before being granted legal emancipation from her parents at age 14.
Studies have found that Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are linked to substance use problems in adolescence and adulthood. A difficult childhood may not allow individuals to develop healthy coping mechanisms or problem-solving skills. As a result, they may turn to substance abuse as an easily accessible way to deal with life's challenges. In addition, a difficult childhood can lead to social isolation, low self-esteem, and a lack of healthy support systems. In such cases, people may be more likely to socialize with people who also use substances, which can normalize and cause substance abuse.
Though Barrymore was successful in overcoming her drug addiction as a teenager, her alcohol addiction remained something that lurked in the background. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Barrymore had a successful acting career starring in many much-loved films such as Scream, Never Been Kissed, Charlie's Angels, and 50 First Dates - this marked a period of relative calm in her life.
In 2016, however, when Barrymore divorced her husband and the father of her two daughters, Will Kopelman, she found herself turning to alcohol as a means of helping her cope. This caused her longtime therapist to end their professional relationship (although they were successful in restarting it at a later stage) and alienated some of her friends, who warned her of what could happen if she continued going down the route she was on.
Being the strong woman that she is, Barrymore was successful in turning things around. In 2021, during an interview on CBS this morning, Barrymore made a revelation and said, “I’m gonna say something for the first time in a long time – I have not had a drink of alcohol in two-and-a-half years… It was something that I realized just did not serve me and my life.” She explained that she hadn’t widely shared that she’d stopped drinking because “it was this quiet, confident journey” that she wanted to keep private.
Jill Kargman, Will Kopelman’s sister and Barrymore’s ex-sister-in-law (Kargman now refers to herself as Barrymore’s “sister-out-law”) remained close to Barrymore after the divorce and once said to her, “You can’t pour from an empty pitcher, Drew.” There are many components to recovery, and a key one of these is learning to develop a positive self-image and practice self-care. Recovery affirmations can help a person build up this healthy mindset by repeatedly telling themselves things such as “I treat myself like a friend who I really care about.”
Barrymore said she felt like she walked "through the fire" to "come back to life" for her daughters, Frankie and Olive. For a recovering addict, having a clear picture of what they have in life that is meaningful and worth fighting for can help them overcome even the most difficult tribulations. For Barrymore, this was her children, and her determination to be the best mother she could be for them (especially considering the sort of childhood that she had) allowed her to see that there was light at the end of the tunnel. Barrymore also credits her chat show, The Drew Barrymore Show, for giving her something to “pour myself into.” As well as family and friends, one’s career can provide them with much-needed direction in life and act as a stabilizing factor.
Barrymore, however, also confessed that she felt like her divorce was more difficult for her than all of the struggles she went through as a kid because of how much she cares about her daughters. “I probably cared so much that I was only giving to them and not taking care of myself.” This ties back to the first point: it’s a major step toward recovery for a person to know what they want to invest in in life and what and who they have to give to, but in order to be a giver, a person has to first take care of themselves - “You can’t pour from an empty pitcher.”
Barrymore’s friend and fellow actress Cameron Diaz said about her, “You can't even comprehend how hard it was to be her as a child, and then she shot out the other end with the ability to save herself.” Nowadays, Drew Barrymore is living a life free from alcohol and drugs and is the fun, bubbly, down-to-earth actress we all grew up watching and came to love.
If you or a loved one are struggling with addiction, know that your past doesn’t determine your future. Whatever your childhood looked like, you are the one writing your life story, and it can have a happy ending. Take inspiration from Drew Barrymore’s drastic turnaround, and know that with the right help you can do the same! Our experienced and highly professional addiction counselors at Avenues Recovery have helped thousands of people write a happy ending to their stories, and they can help you too. Contact us today to find out more about the different treatment options available and take the first step in turning your life around.