<p id=”par-1_45″><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/liza-minnelli-said-worse-marriage-mistakes-judy-garland.html/”>Liza Minnelli</a> went to rehab several times over the course of her life. She said she spent years <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/judy-garland-the-1-tragic-event-that-started-her-spiral-toward-drug-addiction.html/”>struggling with addiction</a> before getting sober in 2015. Minnelli explained that before she went to rehab for the first time, she was self-medicating with drugs and alcohol. </p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-liza-minnelli-said-she-was-into-drugs-before-a-1984-rehab-stay”>Liza Minnelli said she was into drugs before a 1984 rehab stay</h2>
<p id=”par-2_23″>During <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/liza-minnelli-gave-yankee-stadium-ultimatum-playing-version-new-york-new-york-every-yankee-loss.html/”>Minnelli’s years in New York City</a>, she said her friend group openly used drugs. Eventually, she was hiding substances around her house.</p>
<p id=”par-3_74″>“In New York I had surrounded myself with people who at worst encouraged me to use drugs, or at best didn’t encourage me to stop,” she wrote in her book <em><a href=”https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/liza-minnelli/kids-wait-till-you-hear-this/9781538773666/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! </a></em>“I had boxes of pills and bottles of booze stashed away in my co-op apartment. With no one watching, I self-medicated myself to foggy perfection, to a place where I felt nothing or no one could hurt me.”</p>
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<p id=”par-4_27″>She said she hoped to escape this lifestyle, so she moved to Los Angeles. Ultimately, she said she fell into the same habits once she got there. </p>
<p id=”par-5_42″>“Now, in California, I got lost in the same fog. It was the same old bulls***, this time with more sunshine,” she wrote. “That’s one of the reasons I checked into rehab as quickly as I did. I was out of options.”</p>
<p id=”par-6_15″>In 1984, Minnelli checked into the Betty Ford Center despite feeling “f***ing scared to death.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-liza-minnelli-went-to-rehab-for-the-final-time-in-2015″>Liza Minnelli went to rehab for the final time in 2015</h2>
<p id=”par-7_26″>Minnelli went to rehab several times over the years. She checked in for the final time in 2015. She said she has been sober since then.</p>
<p id=”par-8_71″>“I realized that maybe my nine lives were up. These days, if someone offers me a glass of champagne at a party, I thank them, and put it down without a sip,” she wrote in her memoir, adding, “Medication is a different story. I still have lower back pain, and I do get anxious from time to time. But the drugs are now strictly controlled. And baby, there’s no going back.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-she-said-she-inherited-problems-with-addiction-from-her-mother-judy-garland”>She said she inherited problems with addiction from her mother, Judy Garland</h2>
<p id=”par-9_35″>In 1969, Minnelli’s mother, Judy Garland, died of an accidental overdose. In the aftermath, a doctor prescribed Minnelli Valium. Minnelli said this became a problem for her, just as it had <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/liza-minnelli-said-final-gift-judy-garland-escape.html/”>been for her mother</a>.</p>
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<p id=”par-10_37″>“What began as a one-day blessing soon turned into a habit, then a full-blown case of addiction in the years ahead,” she wrote. “It was a final gift, a genetic inheritance from Mama I could not escape.”</p>
<p id=”par-11_22″>Before getting sober for the final time, Minnelli explained that she navigated life through a “haze of substances. Benzodiazepines. Barbiturates. Amphetamines. Cocaine.” </p>
<p id=”par-12_19″><strong><em>How to get help: </em></strong><em>In the U.S., contact the <a target=”_blank” href=”https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration</a> helpline at 1-800-662-4357.</em></p>