Throughout the development of his career as one of hip hop and rap’s most influential and successful artists of all time, actor, producer, songwriter and record executive Eminem openly discussed his struggles with drug addiction back in the early 2000s. Now, on April 20th, 2019, Eminem will celebrate 11 years of sobriety after an ongoing recovery from his addiction. Through the course of his career, Marshall Mathers made his battle to recovery known to the public. He sat down with various interviewers, rapped in countless songs, and shared his struggle with drug addiction to the media as a positive influencer. Enduring many hardships and setbacks, Eminem officially will become 11 years sober in 2019.
Living a busy lifestyle with touring, songwriting, and record production, Eminem sought medical assistance to help himself relax after long work hours. After being prescribed sleeping pills, he soon felt that the medication he was prescribed was working efficiently and gathered himself to seek more pills. Thus, led Eminem’s beginning to his Valium addiction, as Eminem concluded, it helped him to take away the pain he felt and to initially relax.
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Over a period of time, Eminem’s addiction progressively worsened. Before his life-threatening, accidental overdose on methadone back in 2007, Eminem gradually became addicted to opioids, such as Valium, Ambien and Vidicon. In the midst of his career, Eminem sat down with Rolling Stone for an interview about how his addiction began and progressed on in his career. Eminem reflects on his rise to fame and how drugs were introduced into his life. He then explains how drugs started to take a hold on him.
“It didn’t really start until my career took off. I was probably in my early 20s before I even kicked back my first beer. But the bigger the shows got, the bigger the after-parties; drugs were always around. In the beginning it was recreational. I could come off tour and be able to shut it off. I’d spend time with the kids, and I’d be OK.”
Eminem admitted that in the peak of his recreational drug use, he would take up to 60 Valium pills and 30 Vidicons a day. During this period of time, Eminem also acknowledged that he was blind to the addiction he was feeding himself into and that at the time, he didn’t believe he had a drug problem, as he was using prescripted medication.
In the midst of his recovery, Eminem told MTV,
“I don’t know at what point exactly it [his addiction] started to be a problem. I just remember liking it more and more. People tried to tell me that I had a problem. I would say ‘Get that f—–g person outta here. I can’t believe they said that sh– to me. I’m not out there shooting heroin. I’m not f—–g out there putting coke up my nose. I’m not smoking crack.”
In 2010, after the release of his album, Recovery, Eminem became open to the media about his past and personally released a documentary titled, How To Make Money Selling Drugs. Both releases go into depth about Eminem’s use and the consequences drugs created in his everyday life.
Despite his fallbacks and journey to recovery, Eminem found relief within the coping mechanisms he obtained to help himself overcome his addiction and voluntarily went to rehab. During this time, Eminem found peace in exercising and spending time with his children. Eminem realized the significance of his addiction and how it negatively impacted his children. He also came to the realization that his presence was needed in their lives, following his nearly fatal overdose.
Prior to his overdose, Eminem began using methadone, in which he was first thought was vidicon. After a few days of using, his tolerance grew and he began taking and more of the drug. This resulted in an accidental overdose that left him hospitalized after falling on his bathroom floor. While Eminem was hospitalized, doctors explained that his overdose was the equivalent of taking 4 bags of heroin. He was then told he was two hours away from dying before reaching the hospital.
From addiction to a nearly fatal overdose, and from relapse to recovery, Eminem has embarked on a journey that has now rewarded him with 11 years of sobriety on April 20th. His recovery didn’t only save his life but has also helped to save those with similar struggles he has positively influenced through his music, film and open discussions.
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