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Hayden Panettiere admitted that she struggled with alcohol and opioid abuse, which hit a rock bottom after she experienced postpartum depression, after her daughter’s birth in 2014. The 32-year-old actress revealed her struggles in a joint cover story with People and Good Morning America, released on Wednesday, July 6. The actress opened up about how her battle with addiction hurt her career and relationship in the new interview. “I’ve been struggling for a long time,” she told GMA.
Hayden revealed that while going through an intense bout of postpartum depression, she took solace in “The bottom of a bottle,” and it began to take a toll on her. “I didn’t have any negative feelings towards my child. I just knew I was deeply depressed. I didn’t know where the alcoholism was ending and the postpartum was beginning, and I ran myself pretty ragged,” she said.
Before getting “treatment,” Hayden described her rock bottom moment that showed many of her loved ones that she needed help. “When you see a happy-go-lucky girl for years suddenly on the floor in a puddle of mess and alcohol, you’ve got to know something’s wrong,” she explained, before saying how she’s been doing now. “It’s an everyday battle. It really is. I’m grateful to say I’m sober today.”
The Nashville alum also opened up about how her addiction to opioids and alcohol hurt both her career and relationship. “I didn’t want to be around me. But with the opiates and alcohol I was doing anything to make me feel happy for a moment. Then I’d feel worse than I did before. I was in a cycle of self-destruction,” she told People. “I would have the shakes when I woke up and could only function with sipping alcohol.”
Besides her struggles with addiction and returning for Scream 6, Hayden also spoke about her seven-year-old daughter Kaya being in Ukraine with her ex Wladimir Klitschko, who is currently fighting to defend the country amid attacks from Russia. Since the attacks, Hayden has been super supportive of her ex, even starting a fund to raise money for Ukraine.