Heather Locklear Addiction and Mental Health Problems

Heather Locklear is one of the most well known steadily working TV actresses of the last thirty years.  She has been married to two rock stars and has dated several TV actors.  It would appear that she has an enviable life.  However, she has recently had struggles with both mental health and drug use recently, resulting in a trip to a rehab facility.

Heather has managed to maintain a fair amount of privacy about her mental health and drug use issues.  There are several articles with the basic facts, but few official statements, no obvious public breakdowns, or random run-ins with the press like Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears have had.

Heather Locklear Enters Rehab For Mental Health Reasons

This summer, she admitted herself to a rehab center for depression and anxiety.  She also had a DUI arrest this fall and was officially charged with driving under the influence of prescription drugs.  Reportedly, she had been prescribed some drugs to deal with her mental health issues.  According to the final report, there were no illegal drugs in her system.

Heather’s been unusually successful in keeping her situation under the radar.  It’s hard to get much more than this from magazines and the internet.  However, this relative privacy is likely to help reduce her stress as she deals with everything yet to come.  Since she has official legal charges, 2009 could be just as bumpy as 2008 has been.

Life Stress Leads To A Painful 2008 With Drugs and Rehab

When you consider all that’s happened in the last few years, it would not be surprising that any woman in her shoes (celebrity or not) might have some problems.  She divorced her husband of twelve years (Ritchie Sambora) after finding provocative pictures in his possession.  Later, her good friend Denise Richards began dating him, causing the end of a friendship and further strain between Heather and her ex-husband (they have a daughter together).

Earlier this year, Sambora was arrested for DUI.  Heather also learned that their young daughter was in the car with him.   Reports state that friends noticed she just wasn’t as bright and cheery as usual, normal things took more effort, things upset Heather more easily.  In June of 2008, she checked herself into a rehab center for depression and anxiety.

In September of 2008, she was arrested and eventually charged with a DUI.  Interestingly, one of the reasons she put herself into rehab in the early summer was to get a full medical evaluation and get on proper medication.  This was before she was arrested for DUI with prescription drugs.  So it makes me wonder – did she really get the right drugs for her if they made her impaired to drive?  Or had she been taking too many, making her impaired to drive?

If Drug Treatment Is Needed Heather Seems Open To Rehab

Although this would just be a guess, Heather does seem to be at least vulnerable to develop a drug abuse problem or even a drug addiction.  Her recent mental health problems have laid a fairly strong pathway if the wrong things start happening.  A good sign for her future is her previous voluntary admission to a rehab center.

If Heather should at any point need drug rehab, it seems likely she would give it a try.  It’s possible the facility she went to for her depression and anxiety was also a drug rehab center, but sources don’t state anything specific.

2009 Brings Uncertainty With DUI Charges

Heather certainly seems to be the kind of woman who wants to make things better.  I sure hope that any kind of drug treatment or mental health treatment she goes through in 2009 helps her become stronger and healthier.