5 Celebrities Admit to Being High Functioning Alcoholic Celebrities

What is a high functioning alcoholic? How are they different from being just a regular alcoholic? A high functioning alcoholic is someone that can drink just as much as an alcoholic, but appears to be in control of their life. High functioning alcoholics maintain jobs, their finances, and other aspects that alcoholics usually cannot maintain. In the end most of these high functioning alcoholics meet their maker, either by finally getting caught with a DUI, a divorce, or even worse death.

Channing Tatum

In June of 2014 34 year old actor, Channing Tatum, revealed to GQ magazine that he has a love for wine and bourbon. Channing claims, ”There’s probably a tendency to escape. ” He states that he probably is a high functioning alcoholic stating, “I equate it to creativity, and I definitely equate it to having a good time.” Equating alcohol to bringing out creativity and having a good time does lean towards an alcoholic attitude. You should be able to have fun and be creative without alcohol. Channing states that since having a little girl, he has been drinking less. Hopefully, his new family lifestyle will help to keep this talented actor away from destructive alcoholic behavior.

Stephen King

Stephen King is also one of the high functioning alcoholic celebrities that make the list. Stephen, the world famous writer, struggled with depression and used alcohol and drugs as an escape. He often wrote about the struggles of alcoholism in his books. His most famous alcoholic character was Jack Torrence in the famous film, The Shinning. After a family intervention in 1987, Stephen realized that he needed to change. He has been sober since the intervention, but frequently talks about his struggles.

Ben Affleck

Ben Affleck is known for many roles in his acting career, most notably, Pearl Harbor and Armageddon. In 2001, Ben entered rehab for alcoholism. Ben’s alcohol abuse did not seem to have much of an effect on his career, which puts him in the high functioning alcoholic celebrity category. Ben was able to perform his job with no major hiccups along the way, to the outsider’s view. After rehab, Ben was able to put things into perspective and now leads a private family lifestyle.

Michael J. Fox

Michael J. Fox is also in the category for high functioning alcoholic celebrities. Michael is best known for his roles in Back to the Future and Teen Wolf, among many other roles. Michael claims, like many others, he used alcohol as an escape from dealing with his Parkinson’s diagnosis. With his family by his side, Michael was able to give up drinking and confront his disease. Michael to this day still promotes awareness for Parkinson’s disease and refuses to let it get him down. He is a prime example of not letting illness or an addiction define who you are.

Jamie Lee Curtis

Jamie Lee Curtis, best known for her role in the classic horror film, Halloween, also suffered used alcohol and pain killers as an escape. This actress, who has been in countless movies, claims she got addicted to pain killers after cosmetic surgery. She also claimed that abusing alcohol and pain killers helped to take the pressure off of her to constantly look perfect. She now is sober and is an advocate for self acceptance.