Matthew Perry is an outspoken advocate of addiction recovery. You might still remember him as the funny man Chandler Bing from the 90s sitcom, Friends.
Actually, you might remember Bing more than Perry himself. In an interview with BBC, Perry admitted that he doesn’t remember most of the series between seasons three and six because of memory loss caused from his alcohol and drug addiction.
He revealed that he struggled with alcohol and prescription drugs addiction while filming the series. In 1997, he checked into rehab for his Vicodin addiction, which came about after he began taking it “to not drink as much.” Three years later, he went to rehab for the second time to check his addiction to Vicodin, alcohol, methadone and amphetamines.
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In his process of recovery, Perry has been trying to help others with their struggles with addiction, turning his Malibu property to a rehab facility called the Perry House.
The self proclaimed award winning alcoholic received a Champion of Recovery award from the White House in 2013 and the Phoenix Rising Award in 2015 from Phoenix House, the California treatment center where he went for rehabilitation.
“I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in my life. I’ve learned a lot from my failures, but the best thing about me is if an alcoholic comes up to me and says: ‘Can you help me stop drinking?’ I can say, ‘Yes.’” – Matthew Perry