Hayden Panettiere Opens Up About Overcoming Addiction to Opioids and Alcohol: ‘I Have a 2nd Chance’

usmagazine.com:

Sharing her story. Hayden Panettiere is reflecting on being caught in a “cycle of self-destruction” due to her struggles with addiction.The Nashville alum, 32, got candid about her reliance on opioids and alcohol during an eye-opening interview with People, which was published on Wednesday, July 6. “I was on top of the world and I ruined it,” she confessed of how her drug use impacted her career. “I’d think I hit rock bottom, but then there’s that trap door that opens.”Panettiere “put a lot of work into” overcoming her addiction, revealing that she required trauma therapy and inpatient treatment, both of which she attended over the past year. “This hasn’t been easy and there were a lot of ups and downs,” the Heroes alum said of her sobriety journey. “But I don’t regret even the ugliest things that have happened to me.

I feel incredibly accomplished. And I feel like I have a second chance.”According to the Remember the Titans actress, she was offered “happy pills” by the age of 15 before walking red carpets or appearing at other major Hollywood events. “They were to make me peppy during interviews,” she recalled. “I had no idea that this was not an appropriate thing, or what door that would open for me when it came to my addiction. … And as I got older, the drugs and alcohol became something I almost couldn’t live without.”The New York native starred as Claire Bennet on Heroes from 2006 to 2010, later portraying rising country star Juliette Barnes on Nashville.

Panettiere found herself connecting to her character on a deep level, especially while she was pregnant with daughter Kaya. (The actress shares the now-7-year-old with ex Wladimir Klitschko.)“Those were really tough years,” the Racing Stripes star recalled. “I