On Monday morning, Lena Dunham posted a touching Instagram post celebrating five years of sobriety.
The Girls Alum, 36, wrote, “5 years ago today, I set foot — trembling like a little kid — in treatment for substance abuse. My parents hugged me goodbye, I changed into house slippers and there I was.
The struggle with addiction hit me little by little, then all at once. It’s a cliché for a reason – asking for help was the hardest part (I mean, aside from the other hard parts, but every step from there got easier.
And comfort was always the goal — comfort in my body, comfort in my troubled mind, ease in being present in moments of pain, anxiety, and uncertainty without reaching a solution that seemed to help in the moment but pulled me away from the people I loved and the life I wanted.)
“The past five years have been my happiest time on earth so far (at least this time!) It has been full of work, love, complexity and – yes – pain.
A Sober Birthday: On Monday morning, Lena Dunham posted a touching Instagram post celebrating five years of sobriety.
In 2020, Catherine Called Birdy’s manager opened up about her addiction to the anti-anxiety drug Klonopin and her time in rehab in a candid article about her painful battle with infertility.
The Sharp Stick actress and director shared heart-wrenching details about how she was left unable to conceive a biological child after removing her cervix, uterus, and ovaries due to chronic endometriosis in 2017 in an article for the December issue of Harper’s Magazine.
In the aftermath of that surgery — and the breakup with her boyfriend of six years, Jack Antonoff, whom she didn’t directly name and whom she dated from 2012 to 2017 — Dunham said she found herself “obsessed” with becoming a mother, and also realized she was addicted to drugs.
Now, five years after the turmoil of those times, Lena is grateful.
And she continued, “But facing it all without self-medication in unhealthy ways gave me a strong foundation and new tools.
5 years ago all this was unimaginable. 5 days was impossible to imagine. 5 minutes sometimes felt difficult. I was able to stay sober because I had the support and resources to seek and receive incredible help – medical and spiritual.
For many people, the difference between being sober and being used isn’t their desire, or their strength – it’s their resources. We don’t have a system that makes this easy for those who are already struggling to make their lives work.
“So today, on my very lucky birthday — and during this week — I’ll be matching donations to @fri friendlyhousela, a rehab that doesn’t exclude women and gender non-conforming people for financial reasons.”
Looking back: “5 years ago today, I set foot — trembling like a little kid — in substance abuse therapy,” The Girls Alum, 36, wrote.
A New Perspective: “For a lot of people, the difference between being sober and being used isn’t their desire, or their strength — it’s their resources,” she added.
Now happy: “The past five years have been my happiest time on Earth so far (at least this time!) It’s been filled with work, love, complexity, and—yes—pain.
I hope that we can work together and give others the gift of this support, so that they can celebrate similar days, and live in their true strength. Every cent you give will go towards helping people deal with addiction and trauma.
There are so many people to thank here – I hope I’ve given them enough of that head-on, but today is a good reminder to give even more. Every day is a lesson I’m lucky to learn, and one I never take for granted. “I am especially grateful today,” she concluded.
Lena first revealed her years-long addiction to the anti-anxiety drug Klonopin in the fall of 2018, six months into her recovery.
At the time, she told chair guru Dax Shepard’s podcast that she asked for a prescription for the medication because her anxiety was getting in the way of her demanding work schedule.
She increased her intake after being diagnosed with PTSD caused by a number of factors, including surgeries for endometriosis and “sexual trauma” in the past.
Reflecting on the years she spent taking Klonopin after she got sober, Lena said she felt like she was taking the drug under a doctor’s supervision—partly because she was afraid of withdrawal.
Lena has spoken publicly about how she went to rehab in the past, but in her article on Harper’s and in her Instagram post on April 10, she offered a deeper look at how her recovery intertwined with her dream of becoming a mother.
“There’s a lot you can make right in life — you can end a relationship, be sober, get serious, say sorry — but you can’t force the universe to give you a baby your body told you was impossible,” she said.
The Struggle: In 2020, Catherine Cold’s Byrdie opened up about her addiction to the anti-anxiety drug Klonopin and time she spent in rehab.
Work: At the time, she said, she asked for a prescription for the medication because her anxiety was getting in the way of her demanding work schedule. Pictured is 2022
