Charlie Sheen, the actor equally known for his star roll in CBS’ Two and a Half Men, as his exploits as a playboy and call-girl afficionado, has been the focus of controversy for many years. In 1998, Sheen had already been busted with credit card forgery, as well as been named in the Heidi Fleiss trial for spending more than $35,000 on call girls. Soon thereafter, Sheen would in in a hospital because of a cocaine overdose, and a hospital bill which he could not afford. When his father, famous actor Martin Sheen, stepped in to pay the bill, he turned his son over to the authorities in hopes it would clean up his act. Luckily, this attempt proved to be a success, unlike those in the past. Also, Sheen has been recently admitted into a Addiction Treatment Program after admitting to having a sex addiction, which shares characteristics and symptoms of drug and alcohol addiction.
The truth is that the disease of addiction is extremely selfish in nature, and the feelings and concerns of your loved ones do not matter when it comes to satisfying the urge to use. More often than not, when an addict is forced into recovery, it rarely works. Those who achieve long term sobriety do so because they genuinely want to be sober. The pressures of a loved on, or ever the judicial system rarely evoke the strength and dedication required to beat a drug habit.
In 1990, Sheen’s friends and family set up an intervention which convinced him to try a rehab program, and soon thereafter he was enrolled in a 30 day treatment program in California. Unfortunately, that stint in rehab never worked for Charlie, probably because he was not ready to stop partying, and again family pressure rarely works. Sheen Jr. admits to never going to meetings, not reading the AA book, he went into Drug and Alcohol Treatment solely to get people off his back.
Martin Sheen has also suffered from alcoholism in the past, and has turned for Alcoholics Anonymous to help his son, Charlie. Using the skills learned from Alanon workshops, Sheen Sr. has again convinced his son to give Alcohol Treatment a try, and today Charlie is one of the rare Hollywood success stories. He now stars in hit shows “Spin City” and “Two and a Half Men,” and publicly thanks his father for the support and encouragement needed to beat his addiction.
