It’s extremely common for children and adolescents to idolize celebrities. One of these, Eminem, an iconic American rapper openly raps about his use and battle with drugs.
For some, the lyrics are comical and fun, but for others who may be in similar situations, the lyrics are an in-depth view of a scary life situation.
For several years, Eminem battled drug addiction. The Grammy-winning rapper battled a prescription painkiller addiction. He admits using Valium, extra-strength Vicodin, and Ambien quite regularly between 2002 and 2008.
During his battle, the rapper’s weight shot up to 230 lbs. He found the use of pills burned painfully unpleasant holes in his stomach. To relieve the discomfort, he ate non-stop.
In 2007, Eminem suffered a near-fatal overdose during Christmas. Upon arriving at the hospital, he faced the grim reality of his addiction.
The rapper was told that his organs were shutting down and, had he waited two hours longer, he would have died. One of the negative complications of Vicodin abuse is liver damage or failure caused by the Acetaminophen in the drug.
Eminem was amid kidney and liver failure and the hospital planned to put him on dialysis. They were unsure if he was going to live.
Eminem did pull through the overdose and went into rehab shortly after.
Once he finished rehab, he went home and began using drugs again. The immediate relapse left him in an insomniac state.
He was unable to sleep for weeks and kept telling himself he was going to die and wouldn’t be there for his children. In 2009, he realized that he needed to grow and overcome his addiction.
Road to Recovery
For Eminem, the road to happiness in recovery seemed impossible. He had a difficult time grasping the reality that people could be happy without being high and he couldn’t imagine this for himself.
Eminem quickly learned the true benefits of physical activity and used them to his advantage. The rapper found true happiness in exercise and quickly turned his addiction to substances into an addiction to exercise. He ran 17 miles a day and was able to run off all of the weight he gained while battling his addiction.
The star continued his push for a healthy recovery by adding workout DVDs to his routine. He began using P90X and Body Beast for at-home routines and continues his path forward in recovery.
Through his experience, Eminem learned to accept that he was an addict and that it is possible to live a healthy and happy life without using.
He finally had a sense of understanding and compassion for his mother, who battled addiction for years.
Eminem returned to his career with the record-breaking 8x platinum album “Recovery” where he shares openly about his battle, overdose experience, and the impact drug addiction has had on his life and his family.
A lot of addicts are unable to realize what their addiction does to them until it is too late. Don’t wait for a near-death overdose to happen to you.
At Asana Recovery, we help people realize that it is possible to find happiness without substances. We help people increase their physical activity and develop ways they can cope with addiction and resist use.
Call us today at (949) 763-3440 or check out our residential treatment in Orange County and begin your road to recovery now.