Eminem has never been shy about discussing his issues with drug addiction. His first couple of albums focused heavily on his experience using a number of different substances – and then he sort of fell off the map. It was widely reported that his disappearance was due to a drug dependence and subsequent stay in a drug treatment facility, a rumor he confirmed in multiple interviews when he was in recovery and back making music again. He recently discussed his issues with prescription drug addiction and got into the details of how that period of drug abuse affected his life then and now.
Memory Loss
Eminem’s drug of choice? The prescription sleep medication, Ambien. Unfortunately, the drug not only affected his ability to create new music and to perform but it also caused him to lose large chunks of his memory.
Said Eminem: “…a lot of my memory is gone. I don’t know if you’ve ever taken Ambien, but it’s kind of a memory-eraser. That sh** wiped out five years of my life. People will tell me stories, and it’s like, ‘I did that?’ I saw myself doing this thing on [television network] BET recently, and I was like, ‘When was that?’”
Writer’s Block
Many people mistakenly believe that the use of drugs and alcohol increases creative ability, perhaps because so many musicians, actors and writers have famously fallen victim to addiction. Many who are performers or artists and living with an active drug addiction fear entering rehab because they are concerned that they will lose their artistic ability when they free themselves from addiction. Eminem had the opposite problem. He said he was completely unable to write songs when he was under the influence of Ambien and in his addiction period.
Eminem told Rolling Stone magazine about his writing during that time: “It f***ing creeps me out. Letters all down the page – it was like my hand weighed 400 pounds. I have all that sh** in a box in my closet. As a reminder that I don’t ever want to go back.”
Prescription Drug Addiction Help
Eminem’s problem with prescription pills was severe before he finally got the help that he needed to quit. He said that he was taking as many as 60 Valium and 30 Vicodin pills every day at one point and that he once experienced a methadone overdose. Said Eminem: “The doctors told me I’d done the equivalent of four bags of heroin. They said I was about two hours from dying.”
If you or someone you care about is living with a physical and psychological dependence upon prescription drugs like Ambien, Vicodin or Valium, contact us at Axis today for more information about how we can help you to get the treatment you need to change your life.
