Anthony Hopkins pays tribute to his father at gravestone
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Hopkins, now 84, was drinking himself “to death” until an encounter with an Alcoholics Anonymous representative in 1975 gave him a choice between whether to “live or die”.
In an announcement two years ago, the actor proclaimed 45-years of sobriety.
“45 years ago today I had a wake-up call,” he said.
“I was heading for disaster. I was drinking myself to death.
“I’m not preachy, but I got a message, I got a little thought that said ‘do you want to live or die,’ and I said ‘I want to live.’ And suddenly, the relief came, and my life has been amazing.”
When he was young, the Silence of the Lambs actor used alcohol to ease the mental tension he had at the time.
“Booze is a wonderful way of checking out. It has an instant effect – that’s why we do it,” he told the Sunday Times last year.
“In my case I had these peculiar conflicts – I didn’t feel I fitted into my own skin. I felt deeply guilty and ashamed and not worthy of the luck I’d had as an actor.”
There are a number of factors that increase the likelihood of alcohol dependency, including mental health problems or if your parents had alcohol dependencies.
According to Drinkaware, people with alcohol problems may report feeling lonely.
This can increase the risk of relapsing.
Hopkins finally beat his struggle with alcohol misuse after a talk with a woman Alcoholics Anonymous in 1975.
During that meeting, the Alcoholics Anonymous woman said: “Why don’t you just trust in God?”, Hopkins recalled in a speech to 500 University of California students.
After that moment, his drinking urges were “never to return”, he said.
“When I asked for help and I realised I wasn’t alone, that there were thousands of people like me, all my fears began to dissolve,” he told the Sunday Times.
The symptoms of alcohol dependence, include:
- Often feeling the need to have a drink
- Getting in trouble because of drink
- Other people warning about how much you are drinking
- Thinking your drinking is causing problems.
This isn’t the only health ordeal Hopkins has gone through over the years.
Recently the actor, who became famous after the 1968 movie The Lion In Winter, opened up about a surprise diagnosis of a condition he was “ignorant” of.
In his late 70s, the actor was contacted by a doctor who told him that he had Asperger’s syndrome.
Hopkins was quick to dispel the diagnosis.
He told GQ Magazine: “I don’t know. I don’t, actually, I don’t believe in it. I don’t feel any different. I think these are dressed up. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I’m ignorant.”
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