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Rob Lowe Talks Sobriety, Offering Charlie Sheen Recovery Advice With Dr. Oz
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Hollywood actor Rob Lowe has no qualms about discussing his alcohol use disorder in public. Just a year and a half ago, he celebrated 25 years of recovery—and it's clear he isn’t shy about sharing the secrets of his success with other stars.
On a recent episode of The Dr. Oz Show, Lowe talked about his relationship with troubled actor Charlie Sheen and how he’s offered Sheen advice on addiction, recovery and staying clean.
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“Charlie and I were running mates in the day. I’ve known Charlie since he was 13,” Lowe told Oz. “I have had many a conversation with Mr. Sheen. And, this can be a hard issue for some. For me, it was very easy. I mean, when I was done, I was done. And every great thing that’s happened in my life, I can trace back to that decision.”
Lowe compares overcoming an addiction to things like completing homework or even eating a lot of vegetables. To Lowe, it's just the right way to live and the journey is what makes the difference.
“Unfortunately, it’s like being pregnant. You either are or you’re not,” Lowe told Oz about alcohol use disorder. “And then on top of that—that actually becomes the easy part—is giving it all up. It’s the stuff underneath it that makes you want to do it in the first place, that you have to address, and that’s a lifelong process ... The truth of it is, it’s an exhilarating journey. It really is, to continue to dig in and grow and learn things about yourself.”
In 2014, Lowe told Haute Living that he credits his wife Sheryl with helping him get clean. “[I] was attempting my first try at monogamy—which was not really in my nature at the time—and I wasn’t able to do it. It made me examine how I was living my life. That led me to getting sober, which led me to changing my life—giving me everything I now have ... You have to want to change. I wanted it; I was ready.”
Whether or not Lowe can help Sheen is another story. The Platoon actor's battle with addiction is well-documented. The HIV-positive thespian is now enrolled in an FDA drug trial, taking injections to fight off the virus.
Sheen has lots of regrets, but drug use is not among them. "I regret not using a condom,” Sheen recently said on the Today Show. “I regret ruining Two and a Half Men. I regret not being involved in my children's lives, which I am now.”
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Sheen represents what addiction can lead to and Lowe epitomizes what recovery means.
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After landing on the US Marshals Top-15 Most Wanted list and being sentenced to a 25 year sentence in federal prison for a first-time, nonviolent LSD offense, Seth built a writing and journalism career from his cell block. His raw portrayals of prison life and crack era gangsters graced the pages of Don Diva, Hoopshype and VICE. From prison he established Gorilla Convict, a true-crime publisher and website that documents the stories that the mainstream media can’t get with books like Prison Stories and Street Legends. His story has been covered by The Washington Post, The Washington Times, and Rolling Stone.
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