Skateboarding legend Jason Lee shared a personal message to close out Men's Mental Health Month, opening up about the changes that have helped improve his life over the last several years.
Lee revealed that he is now four years sober, calling the decision to stop drinking one of the best choices he has ever made.
Alongside sobriety, he also credited therapy with helping him better understand himself and the reasons alcohol became such an important part of his life for so long.
According to Lee, years of drinking often left him feeling anxious and depressed.
After committing to sobriety, he finally felt like he was no longer living with those constant struggles that alcohol had brought into his life.
With time away from drinking and regular therapy sessions, he said he has been able to look deeper into the habits and emotions that kept him coming back to alcohol.
Lee admitted that he once resisted both sobriety and therapy. At one point, he was uncomfortable with the idea of either one and did not believe they were things he needed.
Looking back now, he says they have been the best investments he has ever made.
He also spoke about the value of simply talking to someone. For years, he tried to handle everything on his own, keeping things bottled up while convincing himself he did not need help.
Therapy changed that way of thinking and gave him a place where he could be honest without feeling ashamed.
Combined with his faith in God, Lee said he finally feels grounded and hopeful about what lies ahead.
Lee also wanted his message to reach anyone who may be struggling with alcohol, drugs, or simply having a difficult time dealing with life.
He encouraged people not to be afraid to ask for help, saying vulnerability should never be seen as weakness.
He acknowledged that staying sober is not always easy and that opening up in therapy can be uncomfortable.
Even so, he believes living honestly and staying committed to the process has made all the difference.
By sharing his own experience, Lee hopes more men will feel comfortable talking about their mental health and supporting one another without judgment.
His message is a simple one. Asking for help can change your life, and nobody has to face those struggles alone.
Jason Lee Posted:
"In an effort to encourage and perhaps
help normalize men opening up and sharing, and not
being afraid to ask for help or to offer it, as we wrap
up Men’s Mental Health Month I thought I’d share two things that have greatly helped improve my own
mental health and that might help someone else:
getting sober, and therapy.After many ups and downs and ons-and-offs with drinking over many years, I committed to real sobriety four years ago today, thus finally saying goodbye to
not always being in the driver’s seat and to that certain dreadful brand of anxiety and depression unique
to alcohol.And now that I’ve gained some unprecedented
distance from drinking, and with the help of therapy,
I’ve been able to dig deeper than was possible in the past and discover why drinking became so incredibly “comforting” for me, and thus habitual.I used to be afraid of the idea of sobriety, and
resistant to and turned off by the idea of therapy:
two things I now deeply understand I absolutely
needed and why. And since getting sober, and
diving into therapy without shame, they are the
best investments I’ve ever made, hands down.It is remarkably beneficial to allow oneself to open
up and talk. And share. And be honest. Therapy is like that. Internalizing everything and being defensive and
in denial and “I can handle it all on my own” evidently didn’t work for me. With intentional sobriety, therapy, and my faith in God, it’s nice to finally feel like I’m on solid ground, with a clear horizon ahead.For anyone out there struggling with drink, or drugs,
or just feeling a little crappy because life can indeed
be bizarre, don’t be afraid to talk to somebody. Vulnerability is not weakness. It should only ever be encouraged, never frowned upon.Sobriety no doubt sucks sometimes, and it can be rough opening up and digging around. That’s just the truth. But being clean and honest and active in therapy has simply been incomparable.
I hope this can be of some use to somebody. And that exchanging unhindered dialogue and sharing unafraid can become more common.
To being healthy …"