Liam Payne spoke with This Morning about his addiction and recovery journey with Chip Somers, clinical advisor at Help Me Stop.
When asked about what advice he would give to anyone with an addiction, he said, “The best thing is to go and speak to someone… If you go through it by yourself, you are your own soundboard and we are all just as crazy as the next person”.
As we have all seen throughout the years, many celebrities and those in the public eye struggle with issues around drugs and alcohol. In the recent past some of the UK’s biggest stars have battled with drugs and alcohol for which they have needed to seek help: Kit Harrington, Ed Sheeran, Russell Brand, Ant McPartlin, Daniel Radcliffe and Liam Payne to name but a few.
Problematic drug and alcohol use is a serious, chronic and debilitating condition that does not discriminate just because you’re a celebrity – it can affect anyone. Problematic alcohol and drug use (including the misuse of prescription drugs) is also a progressive condition that only gets worse over time unless measures are taken to address the problem and treat it appropriately.
Treatment is a serious step and those in the public eye are doing it for very similar reasons as everyone else, ultimately to change their lives for the better. When celebrities open up about their struggles with alcohol, drugs and mental health through TV, print and social media they can inspire a nation of people who may not feel brave enough to face their problems and recovery to reach out. As Dr. Paul Hokemeyer, internationally renowned expert on the treatment of addictive and mental health disorders among celebrities said in 2018 “While I’m typically suspicious of a celebrity’s public disclosure of their struggle with addictive disorders, there can be enormous good that comes out of it.”
For the likes of Kit Harrington, Ed Sheeran, Russell Brand, Ant McPartlin, Daniel Radcliffe and Liam Payne who make it out the other side of problematic alcohol and drug use public disclosure can become a powerful tool — a way to draw attention to the message that recovery is possible.
If you have been inspired by Liam Payne or other celebrity stories of recovery and you yourself are struggling with problematic drinking or drug use, we’d like you to know that Help Me Stop is staffed by professionals who have all dealt with their own journeys of recovery and rehabilitation. If you are ready to reach out and begin your own journey of recovery, or you know someone that would benefit, we’d like to be the ones to help you/them do just that.
Our treatment programme and online treatment options are non-residential, flexible and available from just £16ph for our 160-hour programme – learn more about it here. You can also call us on 0208 191 9191 or contact us via email using our contact form.
