Drew Barrymore Breaks Down As She Visits Mental Health Institute She Once Stayed At As A Teen

Drew Barrymore recently broke down in tears while visiting a mental health institute, the same one she stayed at for 18 months when she was just 13. “I was a real wild child and I just got so out of control that no one knew what to do with me,” she says, as the episode was part of a segment on her show, The Drew Barrymore Show.

“‘They drove me here in the middle of the night and they walked me through those two doors and when you go through those two doors you do not come out.” Barrymore had been struggling with a drug and alcohol addiction at 13 years old and her mother then admitted her to the Van Nuys Psychiatric Hospital for 18 months.

Drew Barrymore gets emotional and honest while visiting mental health institution

Barrymore recalls how people were “put in stretcher restraints and tied up” and thrown into “padded rooms.” When asked why she chose to visit the institution, she said, “I think this is important for me to share with people because when they watch our show we have a very beautiful set and I get to dress in nice clothing and get my hair and makeup done and there is an elegance, hopefully to the show.”

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“But I will never lose sight of this part of my story and I have seen and been through things and they’ve helped me just recognize in all of us that we go through stuff. And it can’t be embarrassing. It has to be our strengths, it has to be something that we can be proud of because we overcame it and we look back with honor and humor.”

She’s come so far today

Additionally, she says that it was “empowering” for her to visit since she has come so far from that point in her life. “Life is so wonderful compared to what it was in this place. I can’t even believe I actually get to be where I am now because when I was here I didn’t see that, I thought I would be here forever.”

“I never thought I was going to make it to somewhere better and I am just so happy with my life and I don’t know if I would have the life I have if it wasn’t for a place like this. So it was so important to come here today and just like honor this.”