Jamie Lee Curtis is a famous actress and author who turned her life around from being addicted to drugs and alcohol to sobriety.
Jamie Lee Curtis was born in 1958 into a family with a history of addiction. Her father, Tony Curtis, abused alcohol, cocaine, and heroin, and suffered from liver disease and a heart attack, (thought to be caused by his drug abuse). Her brother adopted similar habits and tragically passed away from a heroin overdose when he was 21 years old. Curtis later said about her recovery, “I’m breaking the cycle that has basically destroyed the lives of generations in my family.”
Individuals with a family history of substance use and parental substance abuse are at a higher risk for substance abuse. This is because growing up around an addict naturally causes easy access to drugs, witnessing drug use at home, and a lack of proper guidance and role modeling. The home environment can significantly shape a person’s attitudes toward substance use.
Curtis’ addiction started in the late 1980s when she was prescribed opiates for the first time in 1989 after minor plastic surgery “for my hereditary puffy eyes.” She then spent the next decade obtaining painkillers surreptitiously. She even stole pills from friends and family, including her older sister Kelly, who was the first person to discover her addictive behavior in 1998. She explained in an interview, “I was an opiate addict, and I liked a good opiate buzz,” she shared. “And if fentanyl was available, as easily available as it is today on the street, I’d be dead.”
Opiates, which fall under the broader category of opioids - a category of depressants - can produce euphoria when taken in large doses, and approximately 16 million people in the US alone abuse their prescription medications. Easy access and low cost, combined with a misconception that prescription drugs aren’t harmful, pave the way for them to be abused.
Curtis entered recovery in the late 1990s while addicted to Vicodin - a common, over-the-counter pain medication. She took part in group therapy and, with persistence on her part coupled with the support of family and friends, managed to become and stay sober.
So how long has Jamie Lee Curtis been sober for?
Jamie Lee has now been sober for close to twenty five years. This astounding accomplishment is testimony to Jamie Lee’s determination to maintain her sobriety.
Curtis said about her recovery, “My sobriety has been the key to freedom, the freedom to be me, to not be looking in the mirror in the reflection and trying to see somebody else… I look in the mirror. I see myself. I accept myself. And I move on because you know what? The world is filled with things we need to do.” Part of the recovery process involves the individual, together with a therapist, developing a vision for what they want their life to look like. In order for individuals to successfully recover and not revert to their addictive habits, they need a sense of purpose, something that they are aiming toward and that fills their lives with meaning. Curtis filled her life with an array of things that are important to her, including acting, starting a podcast, and running a charitable online shop that raises money for a children’s hospital. She also wrote a foreword to Soulbriety, a book helping people to overcome addiction, written by her long-term friend and former agent in the entertainment industry, Elisa Hallerman. Curtis explained that as soon as she heard about the book, she wanted to get involved and help people.
“Getting sober remains my single greatest accomplishment,” she admitted. “Bigger than my husband, bigger than both of my children and bigger than any work, success, failure. Anything.”
If you are struggling with drug addiction, know that you too can one day reach a stage where you can describe sobriety as your biggest success in life. Here at Avenues Recovery, we acknowledge that breaking free of an addiction may be difficult. However, with the expert help of our caring and professional addiction counselors, it is entirely possible! We have helped thousands of people turn their lives around and reach sobriety, and we can help you too! No one is beyond help. Reach out to us at Avenues Recovery and make the first step toward a life free from addiction.