Drew Barrymore Opens Up About Drinking To 'Numb The Pain' After Divorce: 'I Broke'

Drew Barrymore recently opened up about her sobriety in the winter issue of her magazine Drew.

The former child actor wrote:

"One of the bravest things you can do is slay those dragons and finally change an awful cycle in which you've found yourself stuck."

"For me, it was to stop drinking."

Now, the daytime TV host is giving readers an insight into her struggle.

Barrymore told PEOPLE that the time following her 2016 divorce from art advisor Will Kopelman was "crippling difficult."

She shared:

"There was no scandal. Nothing went wrong, which is cleaner, but makes it harder and more confusing because there isn't The Thing to point to."

"We tried so hard to make it work."

Barrymore continued, talking about some of her lowest points.

"There are times where you can look at someone you think is a strong person and see them so broken and go, 'How the f**k did they get there?'"

"And I was that person. I broke."

So, she used alcohol as a coping mechanism.

"It was just trying to numb the pain and feel good - and alcohol totally did that for me."

"The drinking for me was a constant, like, 'You cannot change. You are weak and incapable of doing what's best for you. You keep thinking you will master this thing, and it's getting the better of you.'"

Barrymore publicly struggled with alcohol and drug addiction as she rose to stardom as a child.

However, she revealed that this go around was more difficult.

"After the life I planned for my kids didn't work out - I almost think that was harder than the stuff [I went through] as a kid.

"It felt a lot more real because it wasn't just me. It was about these kids that I cared so much about."

"And then I probably cared so much that I was only giving to them and not taking care of myself."

"It was a messy, painful, excruciating walk through the fire and come back to life kind of trajectory."

Readers of Barrymore's story congratulated her on her sobriety and encouraged her on this journey.

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Barrymore also told people that her kids helped her get through therapy and stop drinking.

"It was my kids that made me feel like it's game time."

Of The Drew Barrymore Show, she shared that it "gave [her] something to focus on."

"It gave us something to believe in."

Barrymore has been sober since 2019.