Lucy Hale marked her second full year of sobriety in a celebratory Instagram post, calling quitting drinking “the greatest gift I’ve given myself.”
The Pretty Little Liars alum, 34, thanked her followers and fans for accepting her on her continued sobriety journey, writing that “to be able to show up as myself and to be greeted with such warmth and acceptance is something I do not take for granted.” She shared an image of a sobriety tracking app, tallying all 731 days since her last drink.In a 2023 interview, Hale, then just over a year sober, opened up for the first time about her struggles with alcohol, saying at the time, “I have been working on getting sober since I was 20. I’m 33. It took time. It took patience with myself.”
She said that she’d leaned on alcohol for years since her first drink at age 14, believing that “the real Lucy came out when she was drinking. It also quieted my mind…my brain just doesn’t shut off and it’s exhausting.” She described herself as “a textbook binge drinker, blackout, wouldn’t remember what I did or what I said, which is scary.”
She said then that she’d never been a “normal, moderate drinker.”
“I was willing to go to this crazy dark place every time,” she said. “My brain doesn’t work the same way as someone who can just have a glass of wine. It always wants more. It’s craving that feeling.”
Without drinking, she said, she knows she’s showing up as her true self. “I can be Lucy, which is not always cute at times,” she said. “It’s dark and disgusting and scary and that’s what makes us all complex, beautiful human beings, is we all have got this shadow self.”
Now, another year down the line, she shared encouragement for others who may be looking to quit drinking, and a touch of advice.
“If you are struggling please know you are not alone and that you do not have to trek this path alone,” she wrote. “There is no right or wrong way to heal and it is deeply personal and unique to each of us. My only advice is to remain open hearted, curious, and to find the people who see and support you. It does get better. Take it moment by moment.”
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