webadminJessica Simpson recently shared a candid throwback picture of herself on Instagram to celebrate her four years of being sober. The picture was taken in Nov 2017, from the day she began her journey towards sobriety. The 41-year-old American singer, actress, fashion designer, and author, shared her candid thoughts on the picture calling it an unrecognizable version of her.
“I knew in this very moment I would allow myself to take back my light, show victory over my internal battle of self-respect, and brave this world with piercing clarity,” said Jessica. “Personally, to do this I needed to stop drinking alcohol because it kept my mind and heart circling in the same direction and quite honestly I was exhausted,” said.
“I wanted to feel the pain so I could carry it like a badge of honor. I wanted to live as a leader does and break cycles to advance forward – never looking back with regret and remorse over any choice I have made and would make for the rest of my time here within this beautiful world.”
She spoke about her battle to win over substance abuse saying that it was an arduous journey because there are multiple stigmas revolving around alcoholism. People are daunted to be labeled as an alcoholic in the society.
Jessica Simpson rose to fame at the age of 17 with her debut studio album—“Sweet Kisses” in 1999, that sold two million copies in the United States. Her single “I Wanna Love You Forever” was a huge commercial success. With success, her joy knew no bounds with multiple successful music albums. But her childhood was filled with suffering.
She laments her heart-wrenching story of sexual abuse. She had an abusive childhood that created a lot of problems for her, for which she had to resort to alcoholism. It compelled her to go for self-medicating with alcohol and stimulants to ease her overwhelming emotions.
Simpson, during her interview with People’s Magazine in January 2020, recounted her experience that made her realize and contemplate quitting alcohol. It all started in 2017 Halloween when she was so drunk that she couldn’t dress her children for the Halloween party.
“It’s embarrassing to say that I don’t know who dressed them that night,” she said. “I slept for fear of seeing them and for failing them. I hid until they left and then drank.”
That was a life-changing incident for her, which she bemoans even today. She wrote her memoir “Open Book”, where she has detailed the day she hit “rock bottom”. The very next day she decided to quit drinking after meeting some of her friends who helped her to regain her courage to achieve sobriety.
She further said, “The real work I had to do in my life was to actually accept failure, pain, breakage, and self-destruction.”
The accomplished singer said that she did not love herself enough and drowned in alcoholism and let her career and life seep away. She had no self-respect or self-love, which forced her to take the easy way to deal with her inner turmoil.
Self-medicating is a huge problem that leads to dependence. United States is reeling under an opioid epidemic for the past two decades. It is the fallout of the practice of self-medicating by Americans. Not only civilians, even celebrities have fallen prey to substance abuse due to self-medicating.
“Drinking wasn’t a problem. I was. I didn’t love myself. I didn’t respect my strength. Today it is,” said Simpson.
“I have made nice with the fears and I have accepted the parts of my life that are just sad. I own my personal power with soulful courage. I am wildly honest and comfortably open. I am free.”
Seek help
Substance abuse disorder including alcoholism completely overturns one’s life leading an individual to nowhere. Sometimes substance abuse disorder can co-occur with mental health conditions, which is even more ominous. The best way is to address both the conditions at the same time. Treating one condition and leaving the other out will not yield any concrete outcome as the problem will persist.
Mind Health Network is a one-step solution for all substance abuse and behavioral health problems. If you or a loved one is grappling with any substance abuse problem, seek help from Invictus.
We provide a single platform that understands your condition and help you connect with appropriate treatment programs. In case of substance abuse problem we can connect you to the best addiction treatment centers in California that provide you customized treatment programs. We can also help you to find outpatient treatment programs and residential addiction treatment centers across California. To know more call us now on our 24/7 helpline number and get immediate assistance.
