HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Lindsay Lohan is opening up about her past drug use, blaming her downfall on her father Michael’s desire to air the family’s dirty laundry.
“When my father was going public, that’s when I hit rock bottom,” the 23-year-old actress reveals in a new interview with the British newspaper The Sun. “I abused substances too much and it wasn’t the answer to my problems. People need to know that.
“I tried to mask my problems with alcohol, cocaine and mind-altering substances. Now I’m in a place where I don’t need to use anything and I can feel emotions because I choose to.”
Lohan goes into great detail about her tumultuous 2007, in which she was arrested twice for drunk driving and cocaine possession. The turbulent year also included three trips to rehab.
“The first time I checked myself in because I had taken Ambien,” recalled Lohan. “I’d run a bath and fallen asleep on the floor and the bath had overflowed. When I woke up I was so scared, I called my therapist and said, ‘Can I just go somewhere for a month? I’m around bad people and I need to take care of myself.’ I was terrified, so I put myself in.”
“There was a point when I didn’t know how to say ‘No’ and I was trying to please everyone,” she continued. “I was doing pop and making films. I was young and thought I could go out, have fun, then go on set and record. I ran myself down and I lost track of who I was.”
Lohan also blames her father for raising her curiosity about drugs.
“I was only aware of cocaine because of my dad,” she said. “I was terrified of it. But I tried it because I was stubborn, stupid, and wanted to see what it was like. It’s not something I ever want to do again. It made me feel like s—. It became uninteresting to me. I’m hyper anyway and I have that kind of personality so I don’t need something like that.”
These days, Lohan is seeing a therapist every two weeks. She also attends weekly alcohol education lessons as a result of her arrests.
“I’m allowed to drink now but I know my limits,” she insisted. “I’ve now learned my boundaries and I’ve been very good with cleaning house with people who I know didn’t have my best intentions at heart.”
Lohan said her troubled past has given her a new appreciation for life and a desire to help others.
“I learnt from my mistakes and I’m now healthy and happier. I never want to be close to losing everything I worked for and aspired to have my whole life,” she said. “Mind-altering substances are so dangerous. If I can teach others, especially teens, by sharing my experiences, then that’s what I will continue to do.
“I’ve made some dreadful mistakes but learned from them – that has probably saved my life.”
Also see: Lindsay Lohan Photos
