When it comes to success stories of people who were able to recover from alcoholism or drug addiction, we often hear about men and women who have made a successful transformation and reached success as adults. Recovery doesn’t have to wait until a person has “matured”. Teens and young adults can take advantage of a second-chance and take their lives into a new direction.

A young celebrity rehab success story is Drew Barrymore. Her troubles with alcohol began as a child and Barrymore was a teen in rehab by age 13. She talks about her bout with substance abuse in her book, Little Girl Lost. Although the book was written nearly 20 years ago, her story is sadly still relevant to teens today. Despite going through rehab as a young adult, Barrymore pushed past the substances in her life by continuing her acting career with great success and has also gone on to produce and direct her own films.

It can also be reassuring to know that you don’t have to be a larger than life superstar to get through rehab when you’re young. There are more success stories from other young adults who have struggled with the disease of addiction than you might think.

Robert K. shared his story with the Partnership for a Drug Free America. His addiction to drugs and alcohol lead him to assault his own sister with a knife at the age of 17. After rehab and becoming clean, at the age of 24 he started helping his local community by spreading meth awareness throughout Wisconsin.

Another young adult success story can be found in Christine, who started using drugs to cope with ADHD and her somewhat dysfunctional family life. Even though she started drinking at age 11, she didn’t get help until she was arrested at 16. She would relapse and go back into treatment before fully living in recovery. She was able to find happiness in her new life and married her childhood sweetheart, who never used.

Sometimes when a person is at the lowest point of addiction, it seems impossible for a change to occur. The ability to live a “normal” life seems too good to be true – like something in a dream or a fairy tale. What is truly amazing is that not only is every addiction unique to the individual, but the path to recovery is also a uniquely special journey. Each person has to discover what will work for them. When that spark happens, and they finally have the desire to clean themselves up, they have to hold on to those feelings and endure the rocky road of recovery, if they want to truly transform their life. Not everyone gets a second chance, but when given the opportunity, young people really can be successful after rehab.

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