Model and TV show host Chrissy Teigen is taking another shot at sobriety after problems with alcohol abuse, according to a recent interview in Cosmopolitan. The former Sports Illustrated swimsuit model told the magazine she “can’t just have one drink” and has worried about her future if she keeps drinking.
She described getting drunk, embarrassing herself and feeling ashamed of how she treated people whom she respected. She said she didn’t know how to stay sober at awards shows and that her drinking was taking a toll on her health.
“I was, point blank, just drinking too much,” Teigen said.
Teigen isn’t shy about her alcohol use on social media. The frequent Twitter user has mentioned the word alcohol in more than 50 tweets since 2009. She’s posted more than 200 tweets using the word drunk or drink. The majority of those tweets refer to alcoholic drinks.
the only alcohol I didn't drink tonight is rubbing
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) April 14, 2014
In April 2013, she made a one-month sobriety pledge on Twitter. She said that she hoped the public post would help her stay accountable. It’s unclear if she’d tried to get sober in private in the past. In a follow-up tweet, she said she took the sobriety pledge to improve her health.
I feel like if I say this publicly, the chances of me succeeding will rise. I, am going sober. First for a month, then taking it from there.
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) April 17, 2013
Alcohol just not as fun and relaxing as it used to be. Want to feel really truly good again!
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) April 17, 2013
In 2015, Teigen tweeted, “First sober thanksgiving. Pray for me.” But the TV personality has a history of sarcastic and cynical posts, so it’s unclear how serious she was about staying sober. In February 2017, two months after being diagnosed with postpartum depression, Teigen sent another tweet about staying sober for one week.
I feel like pure garbage. SOBER AND HEALTHY WEEK STARTS NOW (I feel like if I tweet this, I'll actually stick to it) I smell like hot dogs
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) February 6, 2017
However, another tweet on the same day made it clear that sobriety was a short-term goal. She planned on drinking that weekend at the Grammys.
It’s unclear how long Teigen is planning on staying sober this time. She told Cosmopolitan that her family has a history of alcohol issues, but she used to think it was “kind of nutty to have to go totally sober.” After experiencing sobriety, she said she gets it now.
She and her husband, John Legend, took a relaxing vacation in Italy this month to enjoy travel before trying to have another child. The process of undergoing in vitro fertilization to conceive their first child took its toll on the couple. She said she knows trying times may be ahead.
But she also knows how to find help. Teigen has been open about postpartum depression and anxiety. She told Cosmopolitan that she was taking medications for those conditions, and she recognized alcohol wasn’t helping her mental health.
Her willingness to talk about issues such as sobriety, depression and anxiety opens the door for a larger public conversation about mental health.
Teigen Opens Up About Postpartum Depression, Anxiety
Teigen and Legend had their first child in April 2016, and the new mom was diagnosed with postpartum depression and anxiety in December.
“I had everything I needed to be happy,” Teigen wrote in Glamour in March 2017. “And yet, for much of the last year, I felt unhappy. What basically everyone around me — but me — knew up until December was this: I have postpartum depression.”
She wrote that she had always associated postpartum depression with moms who didn’t like their children, but she loved her daughter. She learned that symptoms of postpartum depression included prolonged sadness, anxiety, fatigue and feeling overwhelmed. But she didn’t understand how she could have it.
“I couldn’t control it,” Teigen wrote. “And that’s part of the reason it took me so long to speak up: I felt selfish, icky and weird saying aloud that I’m struggling. Sometimes I still do.”
She also didn’t want to admit that she was depressed because the word depression is stigmatized. But like her public sobriety attempts, she’s willing to talk about it in hopes that others will too.
“The word depression scares a lot of people,” she wrote. “I often just call it ‘postpartum.’ Maybe I should say it, though. Maybe it will lessen the stigma a bit.”
Despite fame and wealth, Teigen and other celebrities can experience depression and sadness. They can struggle with alcohol and feel ashamed. But they can also help raise awareness about mental health issues and inspire others to seek help.
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