Family Intervention Worked for Melanie Griffith

Melanie Griffith has struggled with alcohol and drug addiction for years and years, famously going to rehab on multiple occasions. Unfortunately, despite repeated attempts at treatment, Griffith says that her ultimate triumph over painkiller addiction that developed after an accident on a ski trip in 2007 was due in part to a confrontation with her daughters.

Griffith’s Daughters Helped Her Enroll in Treatment

Griffith says that her 14-year-old daughter with husband Antonio Banderas and two grown children from previous relationships were all very concerned about her before she agreed to enroll in treatment in 2009: “I started on pain pills when I hurt my knee skiing and just kept taking them. The kids knew; Dakota and Stella called me on it. Antonio was in London at the time. I went away to rehab for three months; it took 10 days just to detox.”

Her daughters’ interest in her recovery and their concern for her wellbeing was enough to convince her to take the action necessary to recover.

For many, a child’s sincere wish for them to get better is enough of an intervention to make a difference. The fear and worry of a child is often more poignant than that of anyone else.

Support from Spouses

Though the support of your spouse can be a significant help during an intervention, these relationships are often so complicated after long-term addiction that it’s not always simple. Oftentimes, there is quite a bit of mistrust and anger on both sides. Any words of encouragement for treatment may be taken in a negative way; an avoidance of the issue may be viewed as cold and uncaring.

Though Banderas has been vocal in his support of Griffith during her long lasting struggle with substance abuse, Griffith feels as if he could have done more: “Antonio was supportive to the extent that he can be, but if you’re not an alcoholic or drug addict, and you find out that your wife is a bad one, it’s hard to deal with… I wish he would go to a meeting with me or to Al-Anon, but it’s very foreign to him. Addiction runs in my family but not in his.

“I don’t mean that against him. I would like him to do more, but it’s a difficult thing to have happen in any family, and in that way he has been totally by my side. He really is the greatest guy.”

Helping Yourself

If you are living with drug and/ or alcohol addiction, you don’t have to wait for loved ones to step forward and point you in the right direction. Get the help you need now at The Orchid. Call for more information.