Dax Shepard, an actor, and co-host of the popular podcast Armchair Expert, has been in recovery for 16 years from alcohol and cocaine. In the spring of 2020, a motorcycle injury caused him to be prescribed opioids legally from his doctor. Knowing his past struggle with substances, he had his wife, actress Kristen Bell, administer them for him at the amount prescribed by the doctor.
Even with a plan, Dax began taking more than prescribed and found another way to obtain the highly addictive medication. Dax said… “I start getting really scared, and I’m starting to feel really lonely. And I just have this enormous secret.” A few months later Dax opened up to his wife and friends who rally to get him the help he needs.
He went on The Ellen DeGeneres Show at the end of January to talk about his struggle with opening up about this relapse. He explained that he was scared to share his relapse for two reasons. One being he was nervous to lose sponsors on his podcast, and the other, more important reason, was to lose his connection with those also in recovery.
He said it was his friend who gave him some helpful advice on why he should share his story: “If your real goal is to help people, it’s not very helpful that you’re 16 years sober and married to Kristen Bell, that doesn’t help a ton of people. In fact, it probably makes their life worse. So the fact that you just fell, that’s the actual value, that’s the thing that you could do that’s helpful.”
Watch the full interview here :Why Dax Shepard Was Hesitant to Publicly Share His Relapse – E! Online – AP
It is important to share messages like Dax Shepard’s because it shows us two important things:
- Even when you have a plan in place, opioids are strong, addictive and plans can change
- Opioids do not discriminate, rich and famous or anyone in your community are at risk for abusing prescription pills.
Resources to share with your community:
- Stigma Ending addiction stigma (shatterproof.org)
- Alternative Pain Proactive Pain Management: 10 Ways to Manage Your Chronic Pain – Public Health (va.gov)
- Give out lock boxes to ensure safety
- Disposal methods Drop Box/Take-Back Event Finder – Count It! Lock It! Drop It! DisposeRx® — Solving the Problem of Drug Disposal
