Kelly Osbourne’s Opiate Addiction’s a Wake-Up Call

By: Mary Kiser

Courtesy of SheKnows

Kelly Osbourne, the daughter of Black Sabbath’s Ozzy Osbourne, recently talked about her own demons. She was addicted to opiates, namely Vicodin. When she was 13 years old, she was prescribed the pill after her tonsils were surgically removed. However, she was just dabbling with the narcotic. She became physically dependent when she was 16 years old. “I was relaxed, tingly and happy. The next morning, I called the guy and bought two or three pills for about $20,” she reveals in her autobiography Fierce.

Her parents only discovered her habit through paparazzi photographs of their daughter buying drugs. They soon admitted her to an expensive rehab. She had no desire to get clean, though. She was in a constant cycle of relapse. However, she was able to get sober in her early twenties.

Osbourne has fame and fortune, but her story of addiction is common among most addicts. Like her, they use drugs as their coping mechanisms. Rehabs, hospitals, and clinical care are costly. While Osbourne was lucky enough to have the money and the means, very few addicts can say the same.

There’s still hope, though.

If people can raise awareness about the global epidemic, then they can find their solution to not just addiction, but to the brain disease’s preexisting conditions, like mental illness and trauma.

There may not be a cure for addiction, but there will always be help.