Drew Barrymore has been a famous child star but did you know that her childhood wasn’t exactly as glamorous as others believed?
The actress was interviewed recently by Howard Stern where she opened up about being placed in a “full psychiatric ward” for 18 months by her mom.
She said, “I used to laugh at those like Malibu 30 day places. Malibu was sort of the opposite of the experience I had. I was in a place for a year and a half called Van Eyes Psychiatric. And you couldn’t mess around in there and if you did, you would get thrown either in a padded room or get put in stretcher restraints, and tied up.”
According to the actress, she was admitted by her mom, Jaid Barrymore, for being reckless. She admitted, “I was going to clubs and not going to school and stealing my mom’s car and, you know, I was out of control. So, you know, sometimes it was as humorous as that and sometimes I was just so angry that I would go off and then I’d get thrown in the thing.”
The “thing” she referred to was a padded room where she was forced to “cool out” and sometimes with her hands tied behind her back.
She said it was extreme discipline but explained, “I asked myself like why is this happening. And I thought, maybe you need the craziest form of structure because everything was so accessible available and screwed up in your world that maybe it’s going to take something like this for you to kickstart the rest of your life. And that didn’t come for probably about six to eight months. The first six to eight months I was just so angry. I couldn’t see straight.”
She reflected on her mom’s decision then, “I think after, you know, 30, years of therapy, and a lot of soul searching and having kids myself, you know, I think she created a monster. And she didn’t know what to do with the monster.”
She was on therapy for three decades and she eventually forgave her mom for it. She said, “She probably felt like she had nowhere to turn. And I’m sure she lived with a lot of guilt for years, about creating the monster but then I think she lived in a lot of pain that I also wouldn’t talk to her for a long time.”
Presently, her relationship with her mom is better now. Her experiences taught her about the type of mom she wants to be for her children. She shared, “I said to my own daughter… something came up and I said I’m not your friend. I’ll never be your friend; I’m your mother. And I had a mother who was a friend, and we’re not going to do that.”
She added that she has no grudges towards her mom. Drew said, “I can’t have her feel bad anymore. I’m sure she’s already made the crap out of herself for having a daughter who wouldn’t speak to her. I mean, the pain that I went through from that—I felt so guilty. Denying my mom access to me, it felt like I was cutting off the source of life. It was as hard of a feeling as I’ve ever experienced. Definitely the worst pain I’ve ever known.”
Drew became sober after seeking liberation from her mom but in 2016 she admitted she turned to food and alcohol after her divorce from Will Kopelman. She said she was “dying inside” and she sought help by turning to her loved ones.
She said, “I luckily have really great friends who are real ass kickers and who are really honest with me—I’ve always chosen that no bulls–t group.”
As reported earlier, Demi Lovato revealed shocking facts from her biography in her recent interview.
