An actual photo of Steve-O drinking as a toddler, found on his myspace
Steve-O, the Jackass star who recently checked into rehab for his drug and alcohol issues, has posted a goodbye letter to drugs and alcohol on his official blog. Steve-O addresses his mother’s alcoholism, and the fact he was given the alcohol as a child, which was not uncommon, it was often used to make babies sleep. Don’t try this!
On his childhood exposure to alcohol:
Mom was very alcoholic, and I feel that is a gross understatement. I’d love to say that I first took to alcohol out of affection for my mother (there was never any shortage of that for me) but I think the truth is that I was always powerless over it. I know I was always powerless over alcoholism, because it had such a grip on Mom’s adulthood and my childhood, and I never chose to fight it. Until now. Dad was a corporate executive whose job required the family to travel the world fairly extensively and both Mom and Dad were quite self conscious of how they were perceived by others. We were frequently on airplanes and, before Mom and Dad would find themselves in the embarrassing position of being caught by other passengers with a crying baby, I was fed alcohol.
[From Steve-O’s myspace]
Steve-O also talks about his attempts to kick his vices, his abusive behavior towards loved ones, his belief in a higher power to help him (this is a very large part of most rehab programs), and the affect his addictions have had on his work, finances and personal life. He ends the blog with this statement.
A GOODBYE LETTER TO MY DRUGS OF CHOICE
At this point,
All you f’ing things are good for is dying. I’m not ready to die. I’m ready to live. I’m ready to breathe (properly, even). I’m ready to fall in love. I’m ready to become ready to start a family. I’m ready to be happy, fulfilled and meaningful. Maybe I’ll see you fukkers if and/or when I’m ready to die.
[From Steve-O’s myspace]
I really appreciate how hard it can be to kick an addiction after reading this letter. I hope you can get past your addictions Steve-O. It can take a lot work and many attempts to get beyond a drug and alcohol dependency.
Note by Celebitchy: I’ve been keeping up with Steve O’s blog and he seems like he’s coming to terms with his issues and trying to make sense of his life so far. He also comes off as a lot smarter and self aware than you might assume. We wish him the best.
These photos are from Steve-O’s myspace of him as a baby and a kid.
I believe you can only blame your parents until you grow up. Once you’ve become an adult you have to take resposibility for your decisions and have only yourself to blame if you continue with the destructive patterns you were taught as a child. Being a responsible adult is a dull, boring daily grind. Good luck coping without drugs. It’s no joke BUT you can do it! I did and was an addict most of my 53 year life. Once I stopped blaming my parents that was half the battle. The other half was learning I could cope without drowning my emotions and growth with anything and everything numbing.
If truth be known we’ve all probally been given/took alcohol as children.
I remember several times taking a drink of what I thought was my parents soda only to find out it was soda WITH LIQUOR or wine.
and I also remember my Grandmother telling me to put whisky on my kids gums where they were teething and her telling me that is what she did with all her kids and grandkids.
Grow up–it’s not your Mother’s fault!
If he’s just starting down the road to recovery it’s very normal to look back and see where everything started and in that case, I don’t think he’s blaming so much as trying to understand how he got from there to here.
And then you can go from there and try to recover. He’s not my favorite person, but I do wish him peace and recovery. It’s a much better life.
I think probably all kids have grabbed a swig from someone’s beer or mixed drink in their lives. And years ago it was a common practice to rub whiskey on gums for teething. I even gave my second child paregoric for her colic – check it out, paregoric is “camphorated tincture of opium”. Times change.
As several have said above me, you can’t blame Mom forever. He’s been an adult quite awhile and certainly is responsible for his own excesses now.
That said, I wish him the best of luck in getting clean.
My ex & his sister were raised in a similar environment (albeit to a lesser degree) & they are pretty f@&ked up too.
I can’t really think of much to say except that I hope he stays serious about recovery.
I don’t see him blaming his parents, either, just mining his past for what contributed to his issues. To me, having an alcoholic mother stands out as a factor a lot more than him being given alcohol as a child. I know I was given hot toddies made with herb tea and Vitamin C powder at times when I was sick (my parents were health-conscious Hippies, and I have to say, it does work!), and I have never had problems with booze.
And honestly, anyone so self-abusive does need to sort himself out, whatever the process.
some people can zip from f*cked up to healthy without any introspection, but most people need to see why they do the bad things before they can alter their behavior. otherwise they’re like rats in a maze running the same patterns over and over again. like several said, it’s not blame, it’s honestly assessing your life and seeing where you need to make changes. it’s about shaking up past assumptions of what “normal” behavior is. and learning to see new possibilities and new ways of being.
CJ– I REALLY don’t think that is any kind of normal childhood experience with alcohol. My parents never let me near it, and barely had any in my presence. No way were they giving it to me. I wasn’t even allowed to drink soda. And I don’t know anyone who has ever said they were given alcohol as children.
anonymous, I was given alcohol as a child, as was my brother. I am not an alcoholic now and neither is he. It sounds like you lived a very sheltered life.
I didn’t have alcohol as a child, and no, we weren’t sheltered. My parents were actually normal.
Ok, so this Steve-O isn’t my favorite guy in the world either and i’ve been quite disgusted with his attention seeking behavior for most of the time but it sounds as if he’s starting to regret all that crap and is trying to get a fresh start because he’s getting older and probobly realizes he can’t go on like that forever. Good for him.
I wish him luck.
I thank God for my sheltered life. I never saw my parents drink, because they didn’t. I had a very blessed childhood. I wish him well and hope he wins the battle.
A sip or two on an occasional plane ride? That’s pretty minor, just over the alcohol you’d get from a dose of cough syrup in those days. I can see his parents taking that wine sipping pic because they thought it was cute. I was always given a tiny aperitif glass of wine on special occasions and it didn’t turn me into an alcoholic.
Not that I’m impressed a lot, but this is more than I expected for when I found a link on Delicious telling that the info here is quite decent. Thanks.