Lena Dunham celebrates five years of sobriety following a prescription pill addiction

On Monday morning, Lena Dunham shared a heartfelt post on Instagram to celebrate five years of sobriety.

The Girls alum, 36, wrote: ‘5 years ago today – trembling like a little kid – I stepped foot into treatment for substance abuse. My parents hugged me goodbye, I put on slippers and there I was.

‘The fight against addiction hit me little by little and then all of a sudden. It’s a cliché for a reason – asking for help was the hardest part (I mean, aside from the other hard parts, but every step after that got easier.

And ease was always the goal — ease in my body, ease in my restless mind, and the ease of existing in moments of pain, fear, and uncertainty without looking for a solution that seemed to help at the time, but left me moved further away from the people I love and the life I wanted.)

“The past 5 years have been the happiest of my time on earth so far (at least this time!) They’ve been full of work, love, complexity and, yes, pain.”

In 2020, Catherine Called Birdy’s director opened up about her addiction to the anti-anxiety drug Klonopin and time spent in rehab in a candid essay about her painful battle with infertility.

The Sharp Stick actress and director shared heartbreaking details about how she was unable to have a biological child in 2017 after having her cervix, uterus and ovaries removed due to chronic endometriosis in the essay for the December issue of Harpers Magazine.

In the aftermath of that surgery — and a breakup with her boyfriend of six years, Jack Antonoff, whom she didn’t name directly and who she dated from 2012 to 2017 — Dunham said she found herself “obsessed” with becoming a mother , and also realized that she had formed a drug addiction.

Now, five years removed from the turmoil of that time, Lena is grateful.

She continued, “But facing all of that without treating myself in unhealthy ways has given me a solid foundation and new tools.

‘5 years ago all this was impossible to imagine. 5 days was impossible to imagine. 5 minutes sometimes felt hard. I was able to get and stay sober because I had the support and resources to ask for and get incredible help – medical, spiritual.

“For so many people, the difference between being sober and using isn’t their willingness or their strength — it’s their resources. We don’t have a system that makes this easy for those who are already struggling to make their lives work.”

“So today, on my very happy sober birthday — and this week — I’ll be matching donations to @friendlyhousela, a rehab facility that doesn’t reject women and gender-nonconforming people for financial reasons.”

Looking back: The Girls alum, 36, wrote: ‘Today 5 years ago I – shaking like a little kid – set foot in treatment for substance abuse’

New perspective: “For so many people, the difference between sober and using isn’t their willingness or their strength — it’s their resources,” she added

Happy now: “The past 5 years have been the happiest of my time on earth yet (at least this time!) They have been full of work, love, complexity and, yes, pain,” she wrote

“I hope we can unite and give others the gift of that support so they can celebrate similar days, living in their true power. Every penny you give goes to helping people dealing with addiction and trauma.”

“There are many people here who deserve thanks. I hope I’ve given them that personally enough, but today is a good reminder to give more. Every day is a lesson I am happy to learn, and I don’t take it for granted. So today I am especially grateful,” she concluded.

Lena first revealed her longtime addiction to the anti-anxiety drug Klonopin in the fall of 2018, six months after getting sober.

At the time, she told Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast that she applied for a prescription for the drug because her anxiety was interfering with her demanding work schedule.

She increased her intake after being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, brought on by a number of factors, including surgeries for her endometriosis and “sexual trauma” in her past.

Reflecting on her years of using Klonopin after getting sober, Lena said she felt like she was abusing the drug under a doctor’s supervision — in part because she was afraid of the withdrawal.

Lena has spoken publicly about how she went to rehab in the past, but in her Harper essay and her April 10 Instagram post, she elaborated on how her recovery was intertwined with her dream of becoming a mother.

“There’s a lot you can correct in life — you can end a relationship, get sober, get serious, say sorry — but you can’t force the universe to give you a baby your body has been telling you all along. it was an impossibility,’ she said.

Struggle: In 2020, Catherine Called Birdy’s director talked about her addiction to the anti-anxiety drug Klonopin and the time she spent in rehab

Work: At the time, she said she applied for a prescription for the drug because her anxiety was interfering with her demanding work schedule; In the photo 2022