For eight years, Shawn Pyfrom played the gay character of Andrew Van de Kamp on the ABC hit Desperate Housewives.
He played rebellious teen in the show’s early seasons then in the final season, dealt with a drinking problem.
Shawn, 27, is now revealing that off-screen has battled an addiction to drugs and alcohol as well.
‘I can’t stay quiet anymore about this,’ the actor wrote in a blog post. ‘I am an alcoholic and a drug addict.’
Shawn confesses that ‘for several years, I lived for drugs … I didn’t even realize how low drugs and alcohol had pulled me.’
He decided to go public following the death of Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman on Sunday. It is believed Hoffman likely died from a drug overdose.
‘When news reaches us of a public figure, like Mr. Hoffman, passing away from such a terrible affliction; we tend to get the feeling of great loss. It is a great loss. I feel grief when I hear of such a talented human being leaving this earth. But every life is important.’
‘Some people could argue that drugs have provided some of the most memorable, creative artists this planet has ever experienced. Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain…the list goes on. But drugs also took their lives away.’
Shawn, who appeared in the movie Killing Lincoln last year, has now been sober for five months.
He explains: ‘I chose to share this about myself because I could not hear of another person being robbed of their life, due to addiction; knowing that I stayed quiet about mine. Knowing that if, by sharing my story, I could potentially save a life – and didn’t; that I would no longer be able to look myself in the mirror with the same pride I’ve allowed myself to have, for overcoming the thing that almost took my life.’
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