Rob Lowe is sober and happy to encourage others to stay on the wagon. On Mother’s Day, Lowe decided to share some kind words with his wife for being the reason he is sober for 25 years.
Rob Lowe has been sober for 25 years and is thankful for the woman who made it all possible. May 10, 2015 was not only Mother’s Day in the Lowe house, it was also the star’s 25th Anniversary of being sober.
Mr. Lowe shared a series of tweets where he praised his mother, encouraged others struggling to keep fighting and thanked his wife, Sheryl Berkoff, the woman who helped him end his alcohol addiction.
To those, who can not control their drinking habits, he wrote:
“To those struggling with addiction, there is true, real hope. 25 years ago today, I found recovery; and a life of promise. #Grateful”
To his spouse, Sheryl Berkoff, who is also the mother of his two children – Matthew, 21, and John, 19 – he offered a sweet message of love and gratitude:
To @Sheryllowe61 and all the beautiful, dedicated, supportive and loving mothers out there: thank you and bless you. #LOVE
In “Stories I Only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography,” Rob Lowe opened up about the sex scandal that almost ruined his career and his alcoholism and drug abuse.
In 1988, Lowe, who was 24 years old at the time, was featured in a sex tape with two women, and it was eventually revealed that one of them was only 16. Rob Lowe, who was not aware that the girl was underage, agreed to do 20 hours of community service in order to avoid jail.
Few years later, the former Parks and Recreation actor met Berkoff, and he was inspired to go to rehab and drastically change his life. The pair wed in 1991.
Talking about how Berkoff helped him fight his demons, he explained:
“[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 to me getting sober, which led to me changing my life – giving me everything I now have.”
Data shows that 23.5 million Americans are addicted to alcohol and drugs, which equals to the entire state of Texas. However, only 11 percent of those battling addictions, receive proper help.
Lowe revealed that along with Berkoff, he needed to go to rehab in order to understand why he was drinking so much and how he could stop. He shared:
“I didn’t love the fact that I had to go and it was absolutely painful, but I liked the science. I couldn’t have gotten sober without rehab because I needed the science. I needed to [learn about] addiction and what it does to your body and all of the research and the things like that.”
Lowe did discover the root of his addiction – his father, who gave him beers when he was a toddler. He explained:
“I’m fairly positive I knew it wasn’t ‘pop,’ as we called soda, or a glass of milk with ice, which was the drink we usually shared on hot summer nights watching the lightning bugs from the screened-in porch. It was beer, probably Stroh’s, as a few years later that brand would become my favorite. In a move that I’ve come to know says so many things about my temperament, I didn’t gingerly explore this new beverage with a dainty sip; I took a full swig. I practically chugged it. Although today I know why, then I did not. I remember it tasting both terrible and amazing. Then I vomited all over our living room floor.”
Rob Lowe is not only celebrating his 25th year as a sober man, but he is also thrilled that his new show The Grinder has been picked up by FOX.
What are your thoughts on Rob Lowe’s journey to sobriety?
This man is not aging. He has found the secret of youth. I remember when the tape came out and people thought his career was over.
He really killed it on Parks & Rec. I love this man, keep it Rob.
Wish all the best, it’s a hard road and not many can accomplish what he did. I have friends who have been fighting this for years and never stayed sober for more than a week. Lowe is an inspiration. Congrats.
His father is a monster to get him started so young at 5 OMG!!
I have been working with youths battling addictions – the younger they start, the harder it is for them to stop later in life.
these numbers speak for themselves.
Alcohol kills more teenagers than all other drugs combined. It is a factor in the three leading causes of death among 15- to 24-year-olds: accidents, homicides and suicides.
Youth who drink are 7.5 times more likely to use other illegal drugs and fifty times more likely to use cocaine than young people who never drink. One survey found that 32% of the heavy drinkers over 12 were also illegal drug users.
In 2005, 6.6% of the US population aged 12 or older, or 16 million people, reported heavy drinking (binge drinking on at least five days of the past thirty days).
Of the 3.9 million Americans who received treatment for a substance abuse problem in 2005, 2.5 million of them were treated for alcohol use.
Alcohol-related traffic deaths in the US were 12,998 in 2007. This is more than three times as many American soldiers who died in combat in the first six years of the Iraq war.
There are 1.4 million drunk driving arrests in the US every year.
A US Department of Justice study found that as many as 40% of violent crimes occur under the influence of alcohol.
In 2005–2006, there were 187,640 National Health System alcohol-related hospital admissions in England.
There were 6,570 deaths in England in 2005 from causes directly linked to alcohol use. In 2006, alcohol-related deaths in England rose to 8,758. This amounts to an annual increase of 7% from the previous year.
According to one study, of the 490 million people in the European Union, more than 23 million are dependent on alcohol.
In Europe, alcohol contributes to nearly one in ten of all cases of illness and premature deaths each year.
39% of all traffic deaths involved alcohol in 2005.
40% of violent crimes occur under the influence of alcohol.
One Day at a Time – it was 22 years in January (this time) and it’s been a journey ever since January 1976. I had to go out again to do some PhD work but I am very grateful that I found a daily solution to recovery. Miracles are happening every day because that is all we have in this journey of recovery – just today! Very happy for you Rob – congrats!
Hey Gnome, all the best to you, keep it up.
Lowe is a real motivation for people trying to better themselves.
No matter hwo many times you fall of the horse, dust yourself up and get back on it.
The Grinder looks hilarious, Lowe is Lowe in it. fast talking, funny and full a surprises. Was a fan of the Wonder Years so I ‘m happy to see Savage on TV again. Looking forward to the show in the fall.
All the best Mr Lowe.
A threesome that is just nasty.
Rob Lowe is Ian Somerhalder’s father.
Good for you and your family.
recovery is a gift. way to go mr lowe
I hope he runs for office one day. Just like Ben Affleck, I think he has potential. Cool dude.
Lowe good for you.
Here is a motto to go by and achieve your goals big or small.
Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life–think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.
Love the cable tv commercials of “Hi Im good Rob Lowe” and “Im bad Rob Lowe” great to see him back on Tv and congrats on 25 years clean n sober!