Drew Barrymore and the Shame of Blackout Drinking

“Sobriety didn’t make me perfect. It made me honest. It made me whole.”

It’s easy to see Drew Barrymore as the bubbly, lovable Hollywood star who’s always smiling on screen. But behind that smile is a story many women can relate to, one filled with early exposure to alcohol, years of blackouts, and the deep shame that comes with trying to outrun yourself.

This isn’t just another celebrity sobriety story. This is about what happens when drinking stops being fun and starts becoming a source of disconnection, confusion, and guilt.

🌙 The Hidden Reality of Blackout Drinking

Drew has talked openly about the emotional aftermath of drinking. The drinking where you don’t remember how the night ended. The kind where you wake up and feel like a stranger in your own body.

She’s said:

“You keep thinking you will master this, and it’s getting the better of you.”

If you’ve ever woken up and thought, “What did I say?” “Who saw me?” “Why can’t I remember?” You know exactly what she means.

That kind of drinking isn’t about fun. It’s about numbing. Escaping. Pretending to be okay. And the next morning? It’s shame. It’s self-loathing. It’s exhaustion from constantly trying to do better and feeling like you’re failing.

💔 Hiding From Yourself

For Drew, drinking was about hiding from stress, from expectations, from herself. And like so many women, she still showed up. She still worked. She still took care of her kids. But inside, she felt like a fraud.

She didn’t shout her sobriety from the rooftops. She got sober quietly. Privately. Slowly. Because she didn’t feel “worthy” yet. She had to rebuild trust with herself first, and that rebuilding didn’t happen overnight.

🧠 Why it’s Important

Because we’ve been there.
The Sunday Scaries.
The mental replay of blurry nights.
The vow that this time will be different.
The fear that we can’t actually stop.

What Drew’s story shows us is that you’re not broken. You’re recalibrating.
And you don’t have to be perfect to begin again.

✨ The Real Transformation

What Drew says now is powerful:

“I drank to cope, to feel less, and to fake a version of myself I thought people wanted. Sobriety didn’t make me perfect. It made me honest. It made me whole.”

That’s it. That’s the shift.
Not from wild to saint.
But from numb to real.
From ashamed to self-trusting.
From faking it to feeling it.

🧡 If You’re in This Season Too...

Just know: You’re not alone. There’s no shame in needing a reset. There’s no weakness in saying, “I’m not okay right now.”
And if you’ve felt the weight of blackout drinking, the silence afterward, or the inner tug that says “I want more for myself,” that’s not weakness either.

That’s the beginning of returning to yourself. Through accountability, coaching, and community, you will get the methods, tools, and support you need to change your relationship with alcohol. Start your 7-day FREE trial to the A Sober Girls Guide Membership.