Famous People in Recovery: Anthony Hopkins

Sir Anthony Hopkins is one of the world’s most respected actors, famous for his chilling, Oscar-winning role in ‘Silence of the Lambs.’ Now at the age of 75, he has made more than 80 movies throughout his six-decade career. Anthony Hopkins has also been sober since the 1970s.

Several years ago, Hopkins went public about his alcoholism and long-term recovery. Plagued by self-doubt, feelings of inadequacy and fear of failure, he plunged into alcohol abuse during the 60s soon after he began theater acting, and was drunk on many movie locations for most of the beginning of the career we’ve come to know and love.

Hopkins told Live Magazine, “What made me stop drinking was not remembering where I’d been the night before. One day I just thought, ‘I’ve had enough of this’. It was simple. I didn’t want to go on feeling bad. I don’t miss drinking, not at all. I don’t want to ever go back there.”

With a newfound belief in God, and change in thinking, Hopkins got clean and went on to experience even bigger success. He told Barbara Walters that the most important aspect of recovery is his “freedom from alcohol,” which absolutely speaks to what we do at American Addiction Centers – which is, as we say, helping those in need break free from the heavy chains of addiction each day.

Believable hope is what actually leads to positive change. Individuals with addictions find freedom when they improve their mindsets and discover believable hope.

Whether a person is trying to get off drugs or alcohol, lose weight or overcome a process addiction, the key to transformation is to develop a new outlook on life. No long-term freedom from compulsive behavior is possible without a change in thinking and attitude. Anthony Hopkins changed his mindset, and as a result, achieved sustained recovery.

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