• In 2015, Mina Grace Ward, 60, was diagnosed with Graves' disease, an autoimmune disorder.
• In hopes of improving symptoms like hair loss and fatigue, she went sober and changed her diet.
• She's been in remission since 2018, regrowing her hair and no longer having panic attacks.

Editor's note: Business Insider has verified all medical records mentioned in this article.

When I was 50, I was diagnosed with Graves' disease, a common autoimmune disorder that causes an overactive thyroid.

I was a textbook case. I experienced the main symptoms — rapid weight loss, high blood pressure, hair loss, fatigue, inflammation, anxiety, depression — all at the same time. I lost 15 pounds in two weeks and was completely debilitated. I couldn't get out of bed.

There is no cure for Graves' disease. Some people can go into remission after undergoing a thyroidectomy or taking short-term medication, though success rates aren't high. A year into treatment, my endocrinologist didn't give me much hope for getting better; she was throwing different prescriptions at me and they weren't leading to much improvement in my health.

She told me that my diet, which I considered balanced, wouldn't cure me. I wasn't convinced. Because I was sick and tired of feeling sick and tired, I decided it couldn't hurt to cut a few things out.

While I never drank heavily, I was used to having wine with dinner or grabbing a few cocktails at a concert. I knew alcohol is a toxin and that no amount is safe to consume, so I stopped drinking.

Between going sober and cutting out some inflammatory foods like red meat, I started to feel better. My thyroid tests gradually yielded normal levels, and have stayed that way since 2018.

I've also grown my hair back, stopped experiencing panic attacks, and feel happier than ever.

I became more mindful of what I consume

Even before my Graves' diagnosis, I thought about going sober; I knew how a few drinks could add up.

I also gave up foods that could make my symptoms worse, like seafood, which is high in iodine and can trigger hyperthyroidism. I essentially followed a more plant-based version of the Mediterranean diet.

About six months after making these changes, I saw my endocrinologist again. She said my thyroid levels were getting better. By 2017, they were normal.

Since then, I've loosened up my diet a little — I eat cheese in moderation, for example. I fluctuate, listening to how my body feels.

Still, I haven't given up sobriety.

Going sober fixed my worst symptoms

One of my most distressing Graves symptoms was hair loss. I was losing so much that I was actually balding on the top of my head. Since changing my diet, I fully changed course: my hair feels fuller and healthier.

My moods were also impacted by Graves' — anxiety and depression are common symptoms, and I experienced both.

I realized that I felt worse when I drank. I cried all the time. Since quitting, I stopped feeling the sadness I used to. I also no longer have panic attacks. At my worst, I had them three or four times a day.

The biggest change was in my energy levels. Fatigue is a major symptom of Graves' — I was always exhausted. Going booze-free improved my sleep; I started getting a full eight hours and waking up more rested and refreshed. My energy came back.

Even though I didn't have Graves' in my 20s and 30s, I know drinking eventually catches up to you as you age. While I had fun when I was younger, I now want to focus on living longer and maintaining the highest quality of life I can.

I am still in remission

To be considered in remission from Graves' disease, you have to have normal thyroid levels for two years without medication.

At first, I was close to hitting remission. My doctor weaned me off hyperthyroidism medication and I reached a year and 10 months with good test results. Because I underwent a very stressful time in my life, my symptoms were triggered again. I was put back on medication, and this time, I made sure to follow my new diet as closely as possible and try stress-relieving exercises. Within three months, my numbers went back to normal.

I've now been in remission for seven years, since 2018. I try to use my experience to make a difference: I wrote a cookbook of recipes that helped me reduce my symptoms. My four sons, who work at an Italian restaurant I started with my ex-husband, recently included more vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options on the menu after seeing how much they helped me.

I turned 60 this year. I know I'm so much happier because I chose to go sober and change my diet. I absolutely love life; I've never felt this healthy and this alive, all because I started taking care of my body.

• I tracked how much I drank every day for a year.
• Moderate drinking is one drink a day for women, not exceeding 7 a week.
• I exceeded that amount half the time, drinking more during the summer and holidays.

In my head, I was great at drinking less in 2024. I rarely had more than two drinks per occasion, ordering more mocktails and N/A beers.

My journal tells a different story.

Back in 2023, I started writing down how many standard drinks I had per day in addition to my daily entries. I knew alcohol could impact my physical and mental health, so I wanted to factor it in to see how it altered my mood.

After the US Surgeon General announced alcohol's link to cancer last week, I decided to crack the numbers over the whole year. While there's no safe amount of alcohol to consume, the National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention has guidelines for moderate drinking. Women shouldn't have more than one drink a day and seven total a week.

For 26 out of 52 weeks, I went above that limit.

Looking back, I saw patterns around when I'd drink and how I felt before and after. Going into 2025, it's convinced me to become "dry by default" and create tighter rules around drinking.

I didn't feel like I was drinking a lot

I have never blacked out. I also never drink alone and rarely in my home, unless we have guests over.

Still, I got a 50% moderate drinking grade for 2024 — a big F. Because there were times I had three drinks throughout the whole day, I had only one memory of actually being drunk — one I excused in my mind because it was at a wedding.

The times I had four drinks in a day, no matter how spaced out they were or how sober I felt, qualified as heavy drinking for women, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

Part of the issue was my own knowledge of what qualified as healthy. I didn't know that I should cap myself at one drink a day — I always aimed for two max, which is the healthy limit for men.

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My drinking ramped up as I socialized more

The periods I drank the most were early summer and the holidays when I had the most plans. I also got married this year and had a few small events to celebrate, which led to more drinking.

There are social benefits to drinking in moderation. The problem is when I'm having a good time after one glass of wine, I often want to maximize that feeling by ordering one more. Even when I limited myself to two drinks per occasion, those cocktails added up when I went out four times a week.

I drank less when I had a big goal

My healthiest drinking periods coincided with training for my first marathon. I often had only a few drinks the whole week because I was getting up early to run four times a week, and I abstained from drinking the week before the race. As an added bonus, I looked less puffy in my wedding photos.

Giving up alcohol is the hardest for me when it feels like a punishment, like I'm removing some pleasure from my life for the nebulous goal of being healthier. It was much easier to order that Phony Negroni when I had a higher purpose or goal. It made me feel dedicated and confident. I was someone who could hang with my friends and still make it to that morning run.

Now, I'm doing Dry January and plan to continue when the month is up. The biggest shock from tracking my data isn't that I drank more than I thought; it's how much happier and more fulfilled I was when I didn't at all.

• Some celebrities are open about their sobriety.
• For some stars, abstaining from alcohol and drugs comes after overcoming addiction.
• Bradley Cooper, Tom Holland, Jessica Simpson, and more stars have spoken about their sobriety. 

Some celebrities are open about personal hardships, like efforts to abstain from alcohol and drugs. 

Actors like Jamie Lee Curtis, Bradley Cooper, and Anthony Hopkins have been sober for over a decade, while stars like Tom Holland and Lucy Hale have been candid about embarking on their sobriety journeys in recent years. Others, including Dax Shepard and Kelly Osbourne, have been honest about the challenges of maintaining their sober lifestyle.

Here are 40 celebrities who have spoken about their sobriety. 

Anjelica Oswald contributed to a previous version of this article. 

Bradley Cooper

Cooper has been sober since he was 29. He told GQ in 2013 that he got sober because he realized that "if I continued it, I was really going to sabotage my whole life."

Cooper played a musician struggling with addiction in 2018's "A Star Is Born," which he also directed. He told Variety that it was a "cathartic" experience. 

"Anytime you're trying to tell the truth you need to go to places and use things that have happened to you, or you've read about or experienced," he said. "And that's all part of the beauty of turning whatever things you've gone through into a story. I find that to be very cathartic."

During an appearance on a 2023 episode of "Running Wild With Bear Grylls: The Challenge," Cooper said that he was "very lucky" to overcome his addictions. 

Cooper also said he was grateful to be sober when he played Jackson Maine in "A Star Is Born."

"Thank goodness I was at a place in my life where I was at ease with all of that, so I could really let myself go," he said. "I've been very lucky with the roles I've had to play. It's been a real blessing. I hope I get to keep doing it."

Tom Holland

Holland spoke about his decision to become sober during an appearance on the podcast "On Purpose With Jay Shetty," released in July 2023.

After having a "very boozy December," the British actor chose to participate in Dry January. During that time, Holland found that he kept thinking about drinking, "and it just really scared me," to the point that he realized he has a dependency. 

Holland said he was "definitely addicted to alcohol" and didn't know how to navigate social settings without drinking. 

"I was really, really struggling and I started to really worry that maybe I had an alcohol problem. So I decided that I would wait until my birthday, which is June 1," the actor said. "I said to myself, 'If I can do six months without alcohol, then I can prove to myself that I don't have a problem.' And by the time I got to June 1, I was the happiest I've ever been in my life."

"It's honestly been the best thing I've ever done," Holland added. "I'm a year and a half into it now. It doesn't even cross my mind. I've found amazing replacements that I think are fantastic, ones that are also really healthy."

Holland's sobriety also led him to launch Bero, a premium non-alcoholic beer brand in 2024. 

Jamie Campbell Bower

"12 and a half years ago I was in active addiction," the "Stranger Things" star wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, in July 2022. "Hurting myself and those around me who I loved the most. It got so bad that eventually I ended up in a hospital for mental health. I am now 7 1/2 years clean and sober."

"I have made many mistakes in my life, but each day is a chance to start again. Atone for mistakes and grow," he continued. "For anyone who wakes up thinking 'oh god not again' I promise you there's a way."

"I'm so grateful to be where I am, I'm so grateful to be sober," he said. "I'm so grateful to be. Remember, we are all works in progress."

Jessica Simpson

Simpson celebrated seven years of sobriety in November.

"I was at a place where I was literally spiraling with the alcohol and I was missing out on moments with my children, and then they were seeing me and they were very confused," Simpson said during an appearance on "The Kelly Clarkson Show" in 2020.

"I just wanted to be present and have clarity and be a good role model for my children, because I always wanted to be a good role model for the world, so why in the world would I be stuck in this cycle of having to wake up and have a drink before going to one of their school assemblies?" she continued. 

"It got to the point where all of my life has escalated and I couldn't suppress it," Simpson said. "And alcohol, it wasn't working. It was making me completely check out."

The star said that when she stopped drinking, she had "so much clarity."

 

Eminem

Eminem, real name Marshall Mathers, almost died from an accidental overdose of the drug methadone in 2007. He later entered rehab and celebrated 12 years of sobriety in April 2020.

Eminem opened up about his addictions in a 2022 essay for XXL magazine, saying that drugs became "a part of the way I was living my life" once he got signed to a record label. 

The rapper recounted going to Tijuana multiple times to get drugs like Vicodin because it was "so easy to go back and forth to do it."

He said the "heaviest drug usage and addiction spanned only about five years of my life." His addiction worsened following the release of "The Marshall Mathers LP," as he was readying for his "Encore" album. 

"I was taking Vicodin, Valium, and alcohol," Eminem said. 

At one point, the rapper said he was taking 75 to 80 Valiums "a night."

During an appearance on Paul Rosenberg's "Paul Pod" podcast in 2022, Eminem spoke about how his life changed when he got clean while working on his "Relapse" album. 

"I remember when I first got sober and all the shit was out of my system, I remember just being, like, really happy and everything was fucking new to me again," he said. "It was the first album and the first time that I had fun recording in a long time." 

Robert Downey Jr.

Robert Downey Jr. was arrested multiple times on drug-related charges over the span of a few years in the late '90s. He later spent time at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison and has focused on staying sober since.

"Job one is get out of that cave," he told Vanity Fair in 2014. "A lot of people do get out but don't change. So the thing is to get out and recognize the significance of that aggressive denial of your fate, come through the crucible forged into a stronger metal."

Rob Lowe

Rob Lowe received the Spirit of Sobriety award in 2015 to celebrate 25 clean years.

"Being in recovery has given me everything of value that I have in my life," Lowe said when accepting the award. "Integrity, honesty, fearlessness, faith, a relationship with God, and most of all gratitude. It's given me a beautiful family and an amazing career. I'm under no illusions where I would be without the gift of alcoholism and the chance to recover from it."

Calvin Harris

DJ and producer Calvin Harris told the BBC that he stopped drinking at 24 because it was affecting his work.

"I wasn't an alcoholic or anything like that, but it was clearly affecting what I do," he said. "My live shows are a million times better now. If you drink, you can't even remember if it's a good show or not — and that's probably for the best, because it would have been rubbish because I'd have been drunk and not making any sense."

Lucy Hale

Hale told Byrdie that she decided to quit drinking after spending a few years in the party scene.

"I'm just always trying to surround myself with better people and be the best version of myself possible," she said. "I know it sounds obnoxious to hear people say that, but why not?"

Hale celebrated three years of sobriety with an Instagram post in January 2025. Hale said that since choosing to abstain from alcohol, "I've experienced moments that can only be described as pure miracles and magic."

"I am deeply grateful every day—for the people who have been guiding lights, for a power greater than myself that loves me unconditionally, and for my own perseverance in not giving up," she wrote. "To all of you who have supported my journey, I have felt your love and it means everything to me."

Daniel Radcliffe

In a conversation with Marc Maron for his "WTF" podcast in 2015, Daniel Radcliffe opened up about his alcohol addiction. 

"There was definitely a time when I was coming out of 'Potter' and I was into the real world, suddenly I was in a world where I'm not going to have that consistency anymore," he said. "I was pretty inconsolable on the last day of 'Potter.' I was really worried. I was living alone, and I think I was really freaked out ... I drank a lot, as has been recorded."

Lana Del Rey

In an interview with British GQ in 2012, Lana Del Rey spoke about her struggles with alcohol and drugs as an underage teen.

"That's really why I got sent to boarding school aged 14 — to get sober," she said. "I was a big drinker at the time. I would drink every day. I would drink alone. ... I knew it was a problem when I liked it more than I liked doing anything else."

She eventually ended up at a rehab center for drug and alcohol addicts when she was 18.

Ben Affleck

Affleck first checked into rehab in 2001 and has continued to work on his sobriety through the years. In March 2017, the actor took to his Facebook page to talk about going back to rehab. 

"I have completed treatment for alcohol addiction; something I've dealt with in the past and will continue to confront," he wrote. "I want to live life to the fullest and be the best father I can be." 

His ex-wife, Jennifer Garner, took him to rehab again in August 2018. 

In a 2020 interview with The New York Times, Affleck named Bradley Cooper and Robert Downey Jr. as "guys who have been very supportive and to whom I feel a great sense of gratitude."

He also said that it "took me a long time to fundamentally, deeply, without a hint of doubt, admit to myself that I am an alcoholic."

Brad Pitt

In a 2017 interview with GQ, the actor talked about quitting drinking. 

"I mean, we have a winery. I enjoy wine very, very much, but I just ran it to the ground," he said. "I had to step away for a minute. And truthfully I could drink a Russian under the table with his own vodka. I was a professional. I was good." 

Kristin Davis.

Davis spoke with Health magazine about her addiction in 2010. 

"I'm a recovering alcoholic," she said. "I've never hid it, but I've been sober the whole time I've been famous, so it wasn't like I had to go to rehab publicly."

Keith Urban

Keith Urban told Rolling Stone in 2016 that he turned to drugs and drinking in the late '90s. 

"I stepped up my drinking. I started doing more drugs," he said. "Yeah, man. The whole back end of the '90s were just awful."

He added: "You know, early on in my sobriety, there was a period when I wished I hadn't succumbed to drugs and everything the way I did. It sucked up so much creative time, when I should have been in the studio working. But I don't know what came from that time, other than that I'm where I am because of, or in spite of, nobody knows and never will."

Joe Manganiello

"I battled with addiction at a young age and got to the other side of that," he told Haute Living in 2015. "That's an ongoing battle. I think there's a story in there somewhere about trying to find my way through that and making it to where I am today." 

In 2018, he accepted a Spirit of Sobriety award.

"Sixteen years ago … I crashed and washed ashore on the banks of sobriety," he said. "When I was growing up, when I thought of an alcoholic, I thought of some toothless old guy in a trench coat in a basement somewhere. I just never thought that would apply to me. That type of stigma kept me from getting the help that I needed when I knew I needed it."

Gerard Butler

Butler spoke to Men's Journal in 2012 about being 15 years sober then. He said he went to rehab before he could reach full-blown pill addiction. 

"Maybe a stronger person wouldn't have needed to go," he said. "When you hear the word rehab, you think, 'He's a mess, he's fucked up.' But I'm glad I did it. I've made a shitload of wrong decisions in my life. But I know I've made some right ones as well."

Tobey Maguire

In 2003, the actor opened up to Playboy about being a recovering alcoholic and going to Alcoholics Anonymous.

"It's just all practical," he said. "There are no holes in the program. It's so, so simple. I come in, I ask for help. It has totally changed my life."

Russell Brand

Brand went on "Megyn Kelly Today" to discuss his recovery in 2017. He previously had an addiction to heroin and alcoholism. 

"When I started, I took it one day at a time," he said. "Ultimately, I found that spirituality worked for me."

He celebrated 20 years of sobriety in December 2022.

"I'm 20 years clean and sober today," the comedian said on Instagram. "Thank you to all the people who have helped me to remain clean. It's never done on your own."

Ewan McGregor

Ewan McGregor has been sober since 2001. He told Playboy in 2005 that he stopped drinking before it could ruin his life.

"I knew I was lucky, and somehow I knew that if I didn't stop, everything would go tits up — my career, my family, my everything," he said. 

Naomi Campbell

Vogue reported that the model didn't know if she'd make it through the early 2000s. 

"The time between 1998 and 2005 was especially bad," she said. "During that time I avoided looking in the mirror, because I didn't like the person who was looking back at me. To be honest, there were times I thought I wouldn't survive. I used to have a lot of problems. Amongst others I drank too much so I joined Alcoholics Anonymous to get and stay sober."

She is also a member of Narcotics Anonymous. 

"It doesn't matter what walk of life — addiction and alcoholism doesn't discriminate," she said at the Fortune Most Powerful Women International Summit in 2017. 

Colin Farrell

During an appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in 2017, Farrell celebrated his recovery. Farrell reportedly checked into rehab again in 2018 as a preventive measure when he began to feel urges, according to The Sun. 

He spoke about getting clean in a 2021 interview with The Irish Times, saying: "After 15 or 20 years of carousing the way I caroused and drinking the way I drank, the sober world is a pretty scary world."

"To come home and not to have the buffer support of a few drinks just to calm the nerves, it was a really amazing thing," Farrell added.

Tim McGraw

Tim McGraw quit drinking in 2008 when his family and friends began to worry about him.

"When your wife tells you it's gone too far, that's a big wake-up call," he told Men's Health."That, and realizing you're gonna lose everything you have. Not monetarily, not career-wise, but family-wise. I drank too much. I partied too much. And did other things too much." 

Tom Hardy

Hardy has been sober since he was 25. The actor sobered up in 2003 by using a 12-step program. He told Esquire it was his "first port of call." 

"It was hard enough for me to say, 'I'm an alcoholic,'" he said. "But staying stopped is fucking hard."

Kelly Osbourne

Osbourne relapsed in 2021, after almost four years of sobriety.

"I am an addict and had thought that I had enough time under my belt and I could drink like a normal person, and it turns out I cannot and I will never be normal," Osbourne told Extra at the time. 

"This is something I am going to battle for the rest of my life," she added. "It's never going to be easy."

She celebrated one year of sobriety the following year.

"What a difference a year can make!" she wrote on Instagram. "If you would have told me 365 days ago that I would be sober, happy, and about to be a mumma I would have laughed in your face. Life is truly amazing when you do the work. Thank you to everyone that has supported me on this journey."

John Goodman

Goodman struggled with alcoholism for years and even drank while filming the original "Roseanne." At one point, star Roseanne Barr confronted him about it. 

While on Howard Stern's SiriusXM show in March 2018, Goodman said, "She was scared for me, but she was more confrontational. She'd already had a husband go through the process."

He added: "The last four years were pretty bad, and I was drinking at work and [Barr] was scared for me. I was ashamed of myself, but I couldn't stop."

Dax Shepard

In 2012, Shepard told Playboy that he struggled with an addiction to drugs and alcohol. He said that from the ages of 18 to 29, he was a "heavy smoker, heavy drinker, drug addict, terrible eater, and philanderer."

"I just loved to get fucked-up — drinking, cocaine, opiates, marijuana, diet pills, pain pills, everything," he told Playboy. "Mostly my love was Jack Daniel's and cocaine."

He said that he'd get sober for some movie roles but then get right back into his drug and alcohol habits. 

Shepard's wife Kristen Bell wrote an emotional post on Instagram in September 2018 to celebrate his 14th year of sobriety. 

"I know how much you loved using. I know how much it got in your way. And I know, because I saw, how hard you worked to live without it," she wrote. "I will forever be in awe of your dedication, and the level of fierce moral inventory you perform on yourself, like an emotional surgery, every single night...'m so proud that you have never been ashamed of your story, but instead shared it widely, with the hope it might inspire someone else to become the best version of themselves."

In 2020, Shepard revealed on his podcast, "Armchair Expert," that he relapsed after 16 years of sobriety following a motorcycle accident that resulted in him using painkillers. At the time of the episode's release, the actor was seven days sober. 

Stephen Moyer

The "True Blood" star stopped drinking and went into rehab after the birth of his first son. 

"I got to a point in my life where I was totally out of control," he told The Telegraph in 2017. " I was shocked into doing something about it and fatherhood was definitely a big aspect of that —the catalyst that shook me. And I would never want to go back there." 

He added: "People, say, 'When are you going to be able to have a drink again?' And my answer to that is, 'I've already drunk all the drinks that I was supposed to drink in one lifetime.'"

John Mayer

Following Drake's 30th birthday party, Mayer was hungover for six days. It was after that experience that he decided to stop drinking.

"I looked out the window and I went, 'OK, John, what percentage of your potential would you like to have? Because if you say you'd like 60, and you'd like to spend the other 40 having fun, that's fine," he told Complex. "'But what percentage of what is available to you would you like to make happen? There's no wrong answer. What is it?' I went, '100.'"

During a 2022 interview on the podcast "Call Her Daddy," Mayer said that he hasn't really dated since getting sober.

"I don't think I have to, to be quite honest," he said. "I quit drinking like six years ago, so I don't have the liquid courage. I just have dry courage."

Dennis Quaid

Quaid opened up about his cocaine addiction in an interview with The Sunday Times in 2018.

"I liked coke," he said. "I liked it to go out. I missed it for quite a while. I was doing about two grams a day."

He said he was "lucky" to get a sign that led him to rehab. 

"I had one of those white-light experiences where I saw myself being dead and losing everything I had worked for my whole life, so I put myself in rehab," he said. 

He stopped drinking for 10 years while kicking his drug addiction but later got back into alcohol.

"I started drinking again, because alcohol was never my problem," he said. "I never liked the feeling of being drunk. I would do coke and I would use alcohol to come down." 

Charlie Sheen

Sheen has struggled with alcohol and drug addiction for years. He quit doing cocaine and drinking for 11 years, but he told Dr. Oz in 2016 that he relapsed following his HIV diagnosis. 

"It was to suffocate the anxiety and what my life was going to become with this condition and getting so numb I didn't think about it," he said. "It was the only tool I had at the time, so I believed that would quell a lot of that angst. A lot of that fear. And it only made it worse." 

The actor told Us Weekly in 2019 that his daughter helped him realize he needed to get sober. 

"It was a Sunday. My daughter called and said, 'I need to get to this appointment immediately,' and I'd already had a few drinks," he said.

Sheen called a friend to drive because he couldn't.

"On the drive back, I was just like, 'Damn, man, I'm not available. I'm just not responsible, and there's no nobility in that,'" he said. "It was that night, I just sat with all that." 

Sheen continued: "If you can't be available for the basic necessity of being there for your children, then something really needs to shift. It was that next day that I said, 'All right. It's time. Let's give this a shot.' And then a month went by, a couple months went by, I'm [like], 'Alright. This feels good. This feels good.'"

The actor also told Jay Leno in 2019 that his sobriety "didn't require anything super dramatic and crazy and front-page news."

Zac Efron

Back in 2013, Efron went to rehab for an alcohol addiction.

"I was drinking a lot, way too much," he told The Hollywood Reporter about a year after his stint at rehab. "It's never one specific thing. I mean, you're in your 20s, single, going through life in Hollywood, you know? Everything is thrown at you."

He joined Alcoholics Anonymous and started seeing a therapist to help him on his journey, but added that battling addictions is a "never-ending struggle."

He told Elle in 2016 that getting sober provided him with "structure" in his life. 

 

Jamie Lee Curtis

Curtis has been sober for more than 20 years. In an interview with People magazine in 2018, Curtis revealed that she became addicted to opioids for 10 years following minor plastic surgery in 1989.

"I was ahead of the curve of the opiate epidemic," Curtis told the magazine. "I had a 10-year run, stealing, conniving. No one knew. No one."

Her husband didn't even know until she went to her first recovery meeting in 1999. 

"Getting sober remains my single greatest accomplishment," Curtis said. "Bigger than my husband, bigger than both of my children, and bigger than any work, success, failure. Anything."

Josh Brolin

Brolin entered rehab in 2013 and honored his five-year anniversary of being sober with an emotional Instagram post detailing a horrific night he was drunk. 

"Drunk: when you think you're having a rip roaring time and the next morning you wake up and your brain has broken into a frenzied beehive, and your body is shattered shards of sharp glass desperately searching for what fits where and your spirit is being eaten by worms with great white bloodied teeth and your heart has shriveled into a black prune churning your intestines to the point where dysentery feels attractive," he wrote. 

He continued: "And you can't remember anything you did so you roll out of bed over last night's urine and you dial your best friend's phone number because you recall him lifting you over his head, your whole self, before you hit and broke through the drywall and, you think, a large aquarium and the phone on the other end rings and he picks it up, that clambering for a phone, the clumsiness of a hardline, and you say: 'What did I do last night?!' and he answers, after a great pause: '…Dude…'. #5years."

In 2021, he celebrated his sobriety by posting a photo of his younger self, accompanied by a lengthy caption.

"Sobriety is finally loving without every thought being about how it affects only you," he said in part. "Sobriety is a moment of being able to love and be consumed by the glee it brings someone else. Sobriety is knowing the difference between selfishness and integrity."

In his 2024 memoir "From Under the Truck," Brolin said that he hit rock bottom when he visited his sickly 99-year-old grandmother while intoxicated. 

"I knew that was going to be the last time I drank," he wrote. 

"I love being sober," Brolin added. "I have more fun. There's nothing that I go through that I am absolutely certain wouldn't be worse if I was drinking."

Rob Delaney

"It's almost two decades," Delaney shared on Instagram in February 2022. "And I'm shocked and overwhelmed and grateful."

"Twenty years ago I was in jail in a wheelchair and now I'm on a couch, with a lovely quilt, and my life is unrecognizable," he said. 

"I got a lot of help from a lot of wonderful people," the actor added. "I started doing volunteer work after I'd been sober for a while, and through that I met my wife 18 years ago, and we've had so many children together. And I had the courage to pursue the career that I really wanted to."

Delaney lost his two-year-old son Henry in 2018 and credited his sobriety with helping him experience grief. 

"Sobriety allowed me to be a reasonably good dad, husband, and worker through it all," he said on X in 2019, when he celebrated 17 years. "Sobriety allows me to grieve fully, and grief is an expression of love." 

John Stamos

The actor spoke about his sobriety while presenting "Full House" costar Jodie Sweetin with the Writers In Treatment's Experience, Strength and Hope Award for her advocacy work for people in recovery. 

"It took me a long time, a long time disappointing everyone who cared about me, culminating in a terrible DUI where I could have killed somebody," Stamos said. "I hit rock bottom."

He continued: "Jodie lovingly allowed me to walk my own path and when I finally humbled myself to ask for your help, I realized that the perky little blabbermouth had become the master of wisdom and was right by my side during some of the most difficult days of my life." 

Elton John

In a 2019 Instagram post, John wrote that "29 years ago today, I was a broken man. I finally summoned up the courage to say 3 words that would change my life: 'I need help.'" 

"Thank you to all the selfless people who have helped me on my journey through sobriety," he said. "I am eternally grateful."

John reflected on his addiction in a 2019 interview with Variety, saying that he "had reached the lowest ebb in my life — the absolute bottom."

"I hated myself so much," he said. "I was consumed with shame. All I wanted to do was get well. I put all of the energy I had left toward my recovery."

Kit Harington

In an interview with GQ Hype, Kit Harington said that pre-sobriety, it was "physically and emotionally impossible for me not to drink again," and he's "lucky" he got clean before parenthood. (Harington shares a son and a daughter with his wife and "Game of Thrones" costar Rose Leslie.)

"The very fact that I can be proud of it is an achievement," he said, explaining that he used to be self-loathing and despise himself. "So the fact that I am proud of getting sober is in and of itself a mark of being an entirely different person."

Harington added that his sobriety has positively affected his work life, too.

"And now, every set I step onto, whatever work I do, I'm proud of, because I know I put everything into it," he said. "Whereas before I had this huge monkey on my back that was just, like, weighing me down. So yeah, the whole nature of being proud of myself is a relatively new prospect for me."

Flavor Flav

Flavor Flav, whose real name is William Jonathan Drayton Jr., has been sober since 2020.

On World Mental Health Day in October, he shared an Instagram post days ahead of celebrating four years of sobriety.

"My mental health is an important part of my sobriety journey," he said.

The musician said that he speaks to two therapists: a real one and an AI therapist, whom he uses between his hectic schedule and work travels.

Anthony Hopkins

Days before turning 87 in late December, Hopkins shared an encouraging message about his sobriety and the moment he had a wake-up call.

"I was having such fun," Hopkins said in a video shared on Instagram. "But then I realized I was in big, big trouble because I couldn't remember anything and I was driving a car drunk out of my skull."

"Then on that fatal day, I realized I needed help. So I got it," he added. "I phoned up a group of people like me — alcoholic. And that was it. Sober. I've had more fun these 49 years than ever."

 

• The US Surgeon General announced that alcohol causes cancer.
• The "1-2-3 rule" can help you cut down on drinking, especially in social settings.
• Limit yourself to 1-2 drinks a day, never exceeding three.

The US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a warning Friday, saying alcohol causes cancer and no amount of alcohol is safe.

Still, going fully sober doesn't always work for everyone.

Katherine Metzelaar, a registered dietitian, told Business Insider that, unless a client has experience of substance abuse, she usually recommends drinking in moderation over participating in events like Dry January.

"Cutting it out entirely often leads to the cycle of restricting alcohol and then binging alcohol," Metzelaar told Business Insider.

To make alcohol moderation less vague, some people follow the "1-2-3 rule," a rough guideline on how much to drink each day. According to the US Coast Guard, the 1-2-3 rule is:

• No more than one standard drink per hour
• No more than two standard drinks per occasion
• No more than three drinks a day (more than three constitutes binge drinking, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism)

Metzelaar says there "isn't a one-size-fits-all answer" to alcohol consumption, but the 1-2-3 rule roughly falls in line with the CDC's advisory of no more than a drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men.

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She said not a perfect rule, especially since drinking notoriously makes it tougher to control impulses or always keep track of drinks.

For some, it can be a helpful starting point for cutting down on alcohol, particularly in social settings.

Set an intention before drinking

Metzelaar said guidelines like the 1-2-3 rule can help some people stick to a plan. At the same time, drinking can make you lower your inhibitions and go for that third drink every time.

To make the most of the rule, she recommended setting an intention before a social event, such as only having one drink that evening, drinking water between each alcoholic beverage, or ordering mocktails all night.

Knowing your triggers

To really keep up the habit of alcohol moderation, Metzelaar suggests journaling how much you drink every day to "get a sense of what the patterns are."

Because the rule isn't foolproof, she said it's helpful to know the emotions behind wanting to drink more, such as social anxiety. "That's worth getting really curious about," she said.

Caroline Susie, a registered dietitian who primarily works with women, said her clients have tracked patterns like work stress or coping with childcare responsibilities. That can help them know when they're more tempted to go over the 1-2-3 rule.

You still shouldn't drink every day

Even if you follow the 1-2-3 rule each time you go out, you should also be mindful of how often you consume alcohol in general. Studies show that drinking 1-2 drinks a day is still linked to cancer.

Alcohol is the third leading cause of preventable cancer in the US, after smoking and obesity, according to the US Surgeon General's advisory.

To lower your intake, Metzelaar recommends going without alcohol for at least a few days a week. For example, you might abstain from drinking during the week and then have a glass of wine with friends over the weekend. Some people prefer being "dry by default," only drinking on rare occasions.

With the growth of the sober-curious movement, Susie said it's easier than ever to make alcohol swaps with N/A beers and sparkling water when you're socializing.

"There are just so many things that you can reach for that can still feel like a treat," she said.

• The US Surgeon General issued a report warning alcohol is associated with cancer.
• He cited 4 recent studies to make his case that alcohol should have warning labels like cigarettes.
• Some scientists disagree: Another major report, published in December, found alcohol has benefits.

Dr. Vivek Murthy, the U.S. Surgeon General, said Americans need to know there's a link between alcohol and cancer, citing four recent studies.

Murthy said all alcoholic beverages should have cancer warning labels on them, a measure Congress would have to design and approve.

In a new report, published January 3, Murthy outlined the research that persuaded him — and other medical professionals — that alcohol is a serious and under-appreciated health concern.

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Here's the data that backs up Murthy's advisory, with some caveats:

How alcohol causes cancer

There are four ways alcohol causes cancer, Murthy said, citing a 2021 Nutrients study.

The first two are widely accepted, he wrote. Most physicians agree that when alcohol breaks down in the body it can bind to DNA, damaging cells and fueling tumors. There is also robust evidence that alcohol can drive inflammation, which is linked to cancer.

The study points to newer research that suggests alcohol may influence hormones like estrogen, paving the way to breast cancer, though it's not exactly clear how.

Another emerging idea is that alcohol seems to provide a literal melting pot for other toxins. Tobacco, for example, dissolves in alcohol, which could make it easier for the body to ingest, the study says.

3 studies linking alcohol to cancer

To back up his argument for warning labels, Murthy pointed to a 2015 meta-analysis published in the British Journal of Cancer, which found "a significant relationship" between alcohol consumption and seven cancers.

The team of researchers from Italy, the US, France, Sweden, and Iran examined data from 572 studies, featuring 486,538 cancer cases. They compared the cancer risk of heavy drinkers with occasional drinkers and nondrinkers.

They found heavy drinking was linked to cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, colorectum, liver, larynx, and breast.

Murthy also referenced a 2020 study, published in Nature, that specifically looked at alcohol as a risk factor for head and neck cancer.

The research on around 40,000 people in 26 studies found higher-intensity drinking — consuming more drinks per day, and drinking more years in a lifetime — was correlated with higher risk of head and neck cancers.

The third significant study that Murthy highlighted was a 2018 global systematic analysis looking at alcohol-related deaths in 195 countries over the course of 26 years. That report, published in The Lancet, concluded that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption when it comes to cancer.

Each report has caveats. For example, the 2015 meta-analysis used varying measurements of alcohol and the 2018 study did not differentiate between drinking patterns, such as binge-drinking or moderate drinking.

Still, the studies are comprehensive, significant, and have informed many of the physicians who say that alcohol is a serious health concern.

Some scientists disagree

Murthy said he was motivated to publish this report because surveys suggest more than half of Americans do not recognize a link between alcohol and cancer.

The science on alcohol is not cut-and-dry, though.

Some of the healthiest people in the world — in the Mediterranean and so-called Blue Zones — drink wine daily. Researchers believe the social aspect of alcohol may have strong benefits for longevity.

Plus, Murthy's report clashes with a major report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which was published in December.

The paper, which will be used to inform the new 2025 Dietary Guidelines, found that moderate drinkers have a lower risk of premature death from heart attack and stroke than people who don't drink at all. It also found an increased risk in breast cancer.

The Department of Health and Human Services is due to publish its own analysis of the latest science on alcohol in the coming weeks.

• The US Surgeon General has released a new report highlighting that moderate drinking can cause cancer.
• Richard Piper, an alcohol harm expert used to drink heavily.
• His 'dry by default' rule helped him reduce the risks of drinking without going sober.

This story was originally published in November 2024. On January 3, 2025, the US surgeon general said drinking alcohol was a leading risk factor for developing cancer. He recommended updating warning labels on beverages and adjusting the consumption levels health officials suggest.

At 52, Richard Piper runs often, feels full of energy, weighs less, and enjoys concerts and holidays more than he did at 42 — which he attributes to being "dry by default."

Piper told Business Insider that he drank heavily every day for years. But after becoming the CEO of Alcohol Change UK, a harm reduction charity, in 2017, he realized he needed to change his drinking habits.

He joined a growing number of people who are drinking less, particularly Gen Zers and millennials. A survey carried out by Gallop between 2021 and 2023 found that 62% of respondents, who were adults aged 18 to 34 in the US, drank alcohol, down from 72% between 2001 and 2003.

Being "dry by default" means Piper is sober most of the time but will drink on rare occasions — for example, when a non-alcoholic alternative to a beer he likes isn't available.

He prefers this over being sober because he can lower his risk of alcohol-related harm without following "permanent lifelong rules," he said.

On Friday, Vivek Murthy, the US Surgeon General, issued a new report stating that alcohol is a leading preventable cause of cancer and increases the risk of developing at least seven types of cancer, including breast, mouth, and colorectal. Murthy called for more awareness of the causal link between drinking alcohol and cancer when people decide whether or how much to drink.

"There is no such thing as healthy drinking," Piper said before Murthy's report was published. "But there's more risky drinking and less risky drinking. And the less you drink, the healthier it is."

Research suggests all drinking is harmful — even in moderation

Some studies have suggested that moderate drinking could be better for you than not drinking. But more recent studies have indicated that the data that pointed to this was flawed — it didn't take into account that people are more likely to stop drinking if they're ill or dealing with addiction, meaning their ill health was in spite of not drinking, not because of it.

Now, growing evidence suggests that no amount of alcohol is safe.

According to the US Surgeon General's report, 25% of cancer cases worldwide in 2020 occurred in people who drank two or fewer alcoholic drinks a day.

Drinking alcohol brings risks to other parts of people's lives, too, not just health. "Alcohol can lead to poor decision-making — about getting home safely, about who you talk to, and what you say to them — and makes many of us do things that we wouldn't do otherwise," Piper said.

You don't have to quit drinking to lower the health risks

The US Department of Health and Human Services recommends adults drink moderately, meaning fewer than one to two drinks a day, or don't drink at all.

One to two units of alcohol a week is genuinely low risk for dying from alcohol and alcohol-related issues, Piper said.

Generally, most people would see benefits from drinking less, he said — including losing weight, saving money, sleeping better, having more energy, and easing depression and anxiety. And that's on top of things you can't see, such as lower cancer risks.

"Make sure you have a really good reason for having a drink," he said, and that the benefits of drinking outweigh the risks.

"Basically the less you drink, the better for your health, your mental health, and your well-being," Piper said, even if you don't give up completely.

"It's always good to have a few days off a week. Alcohol should be on the periphery of our lives, not at the center," he said.

• In 2019, after relapsing multiple times, I stopped drinking.
• I was discharged and decided to treat Christmas Day as any other day, not to be pressured.
• I didn't have the urge to drink, and it was exactly what I needed.

November 10th, 2019, could have been my gravestone date, but it became my sobriety date instead.

It was my fourth and final detox from alcohol addiction; I had been caught in a cycle of repeated relapse for several years — this time, I had to make it work.

During my hospital admission, I naturally thought about the future and the next steps in my recovery. At that moment, the thought of Christmas filled me with dread.

The reality is that alcoholism makes you more and more insular, and I was desperately clinging on to the few people I had left. Knowing I was going to be spending Christmas alone for the first time felt like a punishment. It was the opposite.

The previous year, I blacked out

The previous Christmas Eve, I had been in the same hospital for a mental health crisis. While there's no question my drinking significantly exacerbated my mental state, at the time, I wasn't thinking about sobriety.

When I had been discharged earlier on Christmas Day, I went home and slept through the day. It had become routine: I would be kept overnight and discharged the following day after being seen by a psychiatric nurse. I woke up at about 7 p.m. to drink just enough to prevent having withdrawals and went back to bed. Truth be told, I don't remember anything between Christmas and New Year's Day, and it was the longest I'd ever blacked out.

This time around, I was discharged after an eight-day admission for detox, and my first priority was getting through my coming holiday without any alcohol.

I treated the day like a normal one

Two days before Christmas Day, I decided to treat it like any other day but make it extra special. I bought a chicken to roast, vegetables, and an extra nice dessert.

Because I was no longer drinking alcohol, my biggest dilemma was what I should drink. So I bought fizzy grape juice — like wine but without the alcohol. Every time I felt my anxieties rise about the big day, I told myself: "It's only a day, and it will be over before you know it."

What surprised me was that no one really asked me what I was doing for Christmas, which actually made it easier. In previous years, before my epic relapse, I was invited to my friend's house. His mother would come over from Paris; he'd cook pheasant and all the trimmings. However, this year, he and his mother were going to Switzerland for a skiing trip, leaving me out in the cold.

In my teens and 20s, I would go to my dad's place, which often involved him being drunk and passing out in the afternoon. This was not something I wanted to do, and it only served as a reminder of why I needed to stay sober.

Christmas can be anything you want

I realized that there was no "right way" to do Christmas. That was where a lot of the pressure came from — the traditions, the presents, the goodwill, and the expectations that come with it.

On the big day itself, I decided to do exactly what I wanted to do. I'd earned it after all the work I'd put into my sobriety the previous few weeks. I cooked my roast chicken with unconventional herbs and spices and had my gluten-free dessert and sparkling grape juice. I allowed myself to watch trash TV, which reminded me why I never habitually watched anything.

Unlike Christmases gone by, I didn't have to get up to go anywhere or even get dressed. Knowing there were no people involved eased my anxieties. There were no awkward conversations around the dinner table with relatives I only see at Christmas, big birthdays, or funerals. Nor did I have to down a bottle of wine to ensure there was enough alcohol in my system to get me through the day. This was my Christmas, and I did it my way. It turned out to be bliss.

Many people think the idea of spending Christmas on their own sounds lonely and unappealing. For me, spending Christmas alone is about taking responsibility. The alternative is that I would re-expose myself to triggers that contributed to my complex PTSD, which underpinned my alcohol addiction.

Now approaching my sixth sober solo Christmas, I'm looking forward to it.

• I met my partner when I was seven years sober.
• Although I was far into my sobriety journey, some of his drinking habits triggered me.
• I told him my concerns, and we built a relationship on open communication.

I met my husband a few days after my seventh sobriety anniversary. I don't even remember when I first told him that I no longer drank because it simply wasn't a big deal for me by that point.

I'd lost any lingering embarrassment over being someone in recovery. My now-husband must've taken the news in stride; otherwise, I'm sure I would recall that first sobriety conversation better.

But as we got more serious, I realized we needed to have harder discussions. Some of those are more memorable because I had to be more vulnerable, and his response, if negative, could have ended our relationship.

My then-boyfriend started to trigger my addiction

Because of my history with addiction, I am aware of my boundaries to avoid relapse. For example, in the first year of sobriety, I couldn't live in a home with alcohol. It was too early for me and too scary to have temptation that close.

With time, things got easier. A year into sobriety, I was less easily triggered and moved in with a friend who kept bottles of wine in the house. I didn't ask her to remove them; I had enough discipline and trust in myself at that point.

When I met my husband, I could handle most bars and parties without being tempted. Having a partner who drank wasn't a dealbreaker for me, but I still needed boundaries within the relationship to protect my sobriety.

I realized some situations were triggering me as our relationship developed. It wasn't easy to share that a situation tempted me after all that time without drinking. But my sobriety had been too hard-won to risk skating over the issue.

I shared how going out to dinner was difficult because he ordered cocktails every time, and the frequency was too much for me. I also let him know I was uncomfortable seeing him tipsy and that it made me feel unsafe even though I knew he was safe. And later, when we bought our home, we went shopping for a liquor cabinet for him. It's not hard to have alcohol in the house, but bottles visible on the counter for long periods are more difficult for me.

In some cases, we struggled through these conversations. I couldn't even tell him why some things were more triggering than others. It took some back-and-forth to get to a place of understanding. He asked questions and did his best to listen and take action. This new territory was uncomfortable for both of us. But with every hard talk, we got a little better at it. And we always reached an agreement that felt like a step forward.

We now have a relationship built on open communication

Looking back, I can honestly see how helpful my sobriety has been in fostering our communication, forcing us to have some serious conversations early on. I had to be shamelessly vulnerable. My partner had to respond with empathy and action. I'm grateful he took me seriously.

We were also forced to dig deep and state our feelings clearly, including why some things rubbed me the wrong way. It was one of the best things that happened in building our relationship.

Here we are, four years later, married, and my 11th year of sobriety just celebrated.

No one should risk their sobriety for a relationship

I don't share my boundaries for anyone to compare their own. Everyone in sobriety has their personal level of need when it comes to distance or safety from substances. I've had weaker and stronger seasons, and my boundaries are mine. There's no shame in requiring an alcohol-free home.

If you've worked hard to get sober, don't risk something so precious to meet anyone else's standard. Ask for what you need to be healthy in your relationships.

My husband and I have discussed that if I go through a season of feeling more triggered, we would remove any alcohol from our home, and he would abstain completely. The level of support is there, no matter if the needle on the gauge changes. Some hard things can surprise you and turn into an advantage. It worked that way for us.