We at Fairwinds Treatment Center know how difficult the battle against addiction can be. While it's always heart-wrenching to hear about the personal struggles with substance abuse, we also believe that everyone can learn from each other's stories. That's why we applaud actress and model Amber Valletta for recently opening up about her problems with addiction to MindBodyGreen, a website that promotes healthy living.

Valletta revealed that she started abusing substances when she was just 8-years-old, sniffing glue, nail polish and markers to get high. By the time she was a 22-year-old model, she says she had moved on to using alcohol and cocaine. 

"I had a multimillion [dollar] deal and I showed up the first day to shoot this campaign high and drunk," she told MindBodyGreen. "I didn't care and that's just to show you addiction takes you to the worst places."

The actress had checked herself into rehab by the age of 25, saying that she knew if she didn't, she would die. The now 40-year-old Valletta has been sober for 15 years. She says that she is sharing the story of her personal battle with addiction in the hope that it will help someone else seek help on their journey toward recovery. 

Valletta said that she turned to substance abuse because she was profoundly "uncomfortable being a human being." It sounds as though Valletta may have faced emotional and/or psychological challenges that led to or exacerbated her addictions. Because this is so often the case, Fairwinds Treatment Center employs a unique dual diagnosis methodology, offering chemical dependency treatment along with therapeutic counseling. Since Dr. M.K. (Khal) El-Yousef founded Fairwinds in 1989, he has consistently helped patients achieve lasting recovery. If you or a loved one is struggling with addiction, we can help. Contact us today.