About alcoholism disease and treatments
Tatum O’Neal made Hollywood history when she became the youngest person to win a competitive Academy Award at just 10 years old for her performance in Paper Moon. Despite her early success, her personal life was marked by childhood trauma, complicated family relationships, substance use, and repeated attempts at recovery. Throughout her adult life, O’Neal … Read more
Tom Holland, best known for portraying Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has become an inspiration to people reconsidering their relationship with alcohol. Despite his Hollywood success, Holland discovered that drinking had become an important part of his social life and daily routine. What began as a simple Dry January challenge in 2022 eventually transformed … Read more
Nightmares can feel unusually vivid during active addiction and recovery. A person may dream about drinking or using drugs, being unable to find a substance, returning to an old environment, overdosing, being chased, losing control, or relapsing after months or years of recovery. These dreams can be frightening, but they do not automatically reveal a … Read more
Colin Farrell is known around the world for his acting career, but behind his early Hollywood success was a serious struggle with alcohol and drugs. Farrell has spoken openly about substance use beginning during adolescence and escalating as he became famous. He eventually reached a point where, as he described it, he could no longer … Read more
Mickey Mantle was one of baseball’s most celebrated players, but behind his extraordinary career was a decades-long struggle with alcohol. The New York Yankees star later acknowledged that heavy drinking damaged his health, affected his relationships, and likely shortened his playing career. Mantle eventually entered treatment at the Betty Ford Center in 1994 and became … Read more
Billie Holiday, known as “Lady Day,” became one of the most influential jazz singers in American history. Behind her extraordinary voice was a life marked by childhood hardship, racism, abusive relationships, substance use, and repeated encounters with the criminal justice system. Historical accounts document her struggles with heroin and alcohol, but her life should not … Read more
Charlize Theron is known worldwide as an Academy Award-winning actress, but behind her successful career is a childhood marked by alcoholism, domestic violence, fear, and loss. Theron has spoken publicly about growing up in South Africa with a father who struggled with alcohol and about how those experiences affected her long after childhood. Her story … Read more
Selma Blair has built a successful acting career while privately carrying struggles that began long before Hollywood. In her memoir Mean Baby and subsequent interviews, Blair opened up about alcoholism, childhood trauma, anxiety, physical pain, motherhood, and her eventual decision to live without alcohol. She has said she became sober in 2016. Her story demonstrates … Read more
For decades, many people have heard that moderate drinking—particularly a glass of red wine with dinner—might be good for the heart. Some observational studies appeared to show that people who drank small amounts of alcohol had lower rates of cardiovascular disease than people who did not drink. Today, the picture is much more complicated. Researchers … Read more
People living with addiction are often told to “just quit,” “try harder,” or “have more willpower.” Although motivation and determination are valuable parts of recovery, overcoming addiction involves much more than simply choosing to stop drinking or using drugs. Substance use disorders can affect brain systems responsible for reward, motivation, learning, stress, and self-control. Over … Read more