Jessica Simpson Shared An "Unrecognizable" Photo Of Herself During Her Active Addiction, And It's Powerful

Jessica Simpson is celebrating six years of sobriety!

The singer and businessperson has long been candid about her struggles with addiction. In her 2020 memoir, Open Book, she discussed hitting rock bottom after being unable to dress her children for a Halloween party.

She wrote of the following morning, per People magazine, "I slept in, afraid to see [my children], afraid I had failed them. I hid until they left, then drank." She then said that her friends came over and she told them, "I need to stop. Something's got to stop. And if it's alcohol that's doing this and making things worse, then I quit."

To mark her sober anniversary, Jessica shared a picture taken from that day: Nov. 1, 2017.

In the caption of the original post, which Jessica penned for her four-year anniversary, she wrote, "This person in the early morning of Nov 1, 2017 is an unrecognizable version of myself. I had so much self discovery to unlock and explore. I knew in this very moment I would allow myself to take back my light, show victory over my internal battle of self respect, and brave this world with piercing clarity."

She continued, "Personally, to do this I needed to stop drinking alcohol because it kept my mind and heart circling in the same direction and quite honestly I was exhausted. I wanted to feel the pain so I could carry it like a badge of honor. I wanted to live as a leader does and break cycles to advance forward— never looking back with regret and remorse over any choice I have made and would make for the rest of my time here within this beautiful world."

Jessica concluded, "There is so much stigma around the word alcoholism or the label of an alcoholic. The real work that needed to be done in my life was to actually accept failure, pain, brokenness, and self sabotage. The drinking wasn’t the issue. I was. I didn’t love myself. I didn’t respect my own power. Today I do. I have made nice with the fears and I have accepted the parts of my life that are just sad. I own my personal power with soulful courage. I am wildly honest and comfortably open. I am free."

Congratulations, Jessica!

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, you can call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) and find more resources here.