This article is about addiction, and makes specific reference to alcohol addiction.
Ben Affleck’s 2021 quotes on how to overcome addiction have divided people after they resurfaced on social media.
For reference, 53-year-old Ben has always been incredibly open about his struggles with alcohol, and first sought treatment for alcohol addiction back in 2001, with subsequent stays in rehab in 2017 and 2018.
Over the years, the star has spoken incredibly candidly about his recovery, telling Diane Sawyer in 2020 that his children are his main motivation to stay sober after he grew up with a “drunk” father. For reference, Ben shares 20-year-old Violet, 17-year-old Fin, and 14-year-old Samuel with his ex-wife Jennifer Garner.
"My dad, he was drunk every day, and that was just life," Ben said at the time. "Then, as that got worse, that was really, really painful. But I always said, that would never be me. I am never going to do that."
"I wish he had been sober during those formative years, but what he's taught me is how important it is for me to be sober now during these formative years for my kids," Ben added at the time. “I really don't want my children to pay for my sins, or to be afraid for me, which is one of the hard parts of being the child of an alcoholic."
And the following year, in 2021, Ben reflected on his sobriety journey during an appearance on The Howard Stern Show, where he argued that “the cure for addiction is suffering.”
"I hate to say it, but the cure for addiction, the only cure I've seen, and not like these fucking overpriced rehabs or a lot of these fraudulent fixes that are sold to people. And there are good people who will support you; Alcoholics Anonymous, I think, by and large, is a good organization, it’s not the only one. The cure for addiction is suffering,” Ben began.
"You suffer enough that something inside you goes: ‘I’m done,'" he added. "And I'm lucky, because I hit that point before I lost really the things that were the most important. It was not my career or money; it was my relationship with my kids."
"And when I felt as if it impacted them, I recognized it. It was the worst day of my life. I made amends,” Ben went on. “And for a while I thought: ‘Maybe this is temporary, maybe this feeling is gonna go away.’ But since that day, I swear to Christ, I have not ever wanted to drink once."
However, others leaped to the star’s defense, reiterating that what Ben is ultimately saying is that you need to reach “rock bottom” before you are in the position to recover. One user wrote: “Very well said. The opening scene of Trainspotting is one of the other thing that resonates with me with sobriety You have to actually believe you care more about your well-being than your addiction. And thats hard at times when the consequences of addiction aren't immediate.”
Somebody else wrote: “In my case - and I can't speak for everyone, nor will I try - this is absolutely true. Interventions didn't work. Guilt didn't work. I had to reach a point where I couldn't hide from the asshole in the mirror anymore. I had to accept that it was my job to keep him locked away.”
One more concluded: “I dont like celebrities, but I think I now like him for saying that.”
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