Paris Jackson shares how grateful she is to be five years sober of drugs and alcohol.
On Tuesday, January 7, Jackson, 26, shared a reel on her Instagram where she called herself an “alcoholic and a heroin addict.” In the caption, she wrote, “Today marks 5 years clean and sober from all drugs and alcohol. To say that I’m thankful would be a poor euphemism. Gratitude hardly scratches the surface. It’s because I’m sober that I get to smile today.”
She continued, “I get to make music. I get to experience the joy of loving my dogs and cat. I get to feel heartbreak in all its glory. I get to grieve. I get to laugh. I get to dance. I get to trust. I feel the sun on my skin and it’s warm. I’ve found that life keeps happening regardless of whether I’m sober or not, but today I get to show up for it.”
Jackson ended her caption with, “A little snapshot of what has been possible because of my sobriety, and my God I can’t believe I almost missed it all.” In a 2017 interview, Jackson said that her addiction started when she was 15 years old and explained that some of her triggers pertained to the passing of her father, Michael Jackson, who passed away at 50 due to acute propofol intoxication in June 2009.
She revealed that she also used to self-harm and had a failed suicide attempt by overdosing on pills. “It was just self-hatred,” she said in her interview, explaining that it was from, “low self-esteem, thinking that I couldn’t do anything right, not thinking I was worthy of living anymore.”
Her sobriety celebration comes one month after she announced that she’s engaged to boyfriend, Justin Long.