Drew Barrymore Opens Up About Her Experience in Rehab at 14
Drew Barrymore is looking back on her tumultuous teenage years, revealing that entering rehab at just 14 was a turning point in her life. The “50 First Dates” star shared her story with Mae Martin during “The Drew Barrymore Show” on Friday, discussing her 18-month stint at Van Nuys Psychiatric Hospital in the mid-1980s.
Martin, who uses they/them pronouns, recently released the new Netflix series “Wayward,” which also stars Alyvia Alyn Lind, Sidney Topliffe, and Toni Collette. The thriller centers around two friends attending an academy for troubled teens, and Martin revealed that the story was loosely inspired by a real-life friend “sent to one of these troubled teen institutes” for two years.
A Shared Experience
Barrymore, 50, shared that she too was sent to a rehabilitation facility as a teenager, bonding with Martin over their shared experience. “I did not know that you were at one of those places,” Martin, 38, responded. Barrymore praised Martin for perfectly depicting what it is like inside a rehabilitation facility for “Wayward,” stating that the show’s accuracy was “too real” for her.
Barrymore warned her viewers that if they haven’t experienced a “breakdown” like her and Martin yet, they’d better watch out because one is most likely bound to come sooner or later. “A lot of people who have not had that experience or that track – by the way, watch out, something’s coming because none of us escape breakdowns or rebirths or the excruciation of what it takes to get to that,” she cautioned.
A Difficult but Ultimately Positive Experience
Despite the challenges she faced, Barrymore admitted that her time in rehab was “the best thing that ever happened” to her. “I found a lot of lightness in my experience in the institution,” she stated. “It was encouragement to say your truths, to be brave, to find humor and heroism in your journey.” Barrymore also shared that she suffered another difficult decade shortly after turning 40, something she previously revealed during her popular daytime talk show.
Barrymore’s experience in rehab has been well-documented, with the actress first revealing that her mother sent her to rehab for drug and alcohol addiction as a teenager during an interview with The Guardian in 2015. Shortly after being released, she was emancipated from her parents. Barrymore opened up about her experience at Van Nuys Psychiatric Hospital more recently in a 2023 blog post, explaining that “I lived a boundaryless life and job” and that the facility was “exactly what I needed” at the time.
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