Pooja Bhatt Opens Up About Battling Alcoholism As She Completes 3 Years 9 Months Of Sobriety: ‘Alcohol Was My Drug Of Choice’

Pooja Bhatt has never shied away from talking about difficult things publicly, and is quite vocal on social media. Recently, she made a post in which she opened up about battling alcoholism, Pooja Bhatt completed 3 years and 9 months of sobriety and penned a lengthy note about the same. She wrote how it was important for her to share her journey so as to help others to start their own journey of sobriety.

Pooja Bhatt took to her Instagram and shared a selfie, along with a lengthy caption, in which she spoke about alcoholism. “'Three yrs & nine months sober today. One more quarter and I will be four As someone who drank openly,I chose to recover openly.” She then wrote that she was ridiculed by some people, but was also called courageous by most, and she wondered why people consider speaking openly about addiction issues as courageous. She explained about addictive behavior being stigmatized by people and criminalized by them without understanding why they got into it in the first place.

“I understand more than ever today that it’s because people simplify/stigmatise addictive behaviour & tend to criminalise it without attempting to understand why someone used a substance to begin with.,” she wrote.

Pooja Bhatt added that alcohol is a drug and that it was her drug of choice. “Just because it is socially acceptable does not mean it is not. I have had to make more excuses for NOT drinking in the last few yrs than I ever have for drinking-to friends,foes and ‘well’ meaning acquaintances alike,” wrote Pooja Bhatt. She further urged people to empathise instead of vilify those battling addiction. Ending the caption, she wrote, “I will continue to speak from a place of compassion & truth,in the hope that there is ONE person out there I could goad to start on their own journey of sobriety and stay on their path. So help me God!,” ending the note with the hashtag ‘sobriety rocks’ and ‘you are not alone’.

A few days ago, Pooja Bhatt had also tweeted about substance abuse in economically weaker sections of the society, and had mentioned if anyone cares about their rehabilitation. She wrote that as a coping mechanism, people may turn to intoxicants. However, instead of vilifying them, people should help them heal.