Waterford actor, writer, director and comedian Tony Kelly became addicted to prescription drugs in 2008. Now three and a half years sober, he says he owes everything in his life to the addiction treatment he received
Tony Kelly says he owes Aiséirí addiction treatment center for everything he has in his life now. Photo: Dave Giordano
'I took Valium for the first time at the end of 2008. A relationship I was in ended abruptly and I was having a really hard time mentally. My mother gave me Valium to sleep that night because I was panicking. I can't even describe how that made me feel. It was just the answer to everything I was missing. About a day later she gave me another and that evening I snuck downstairs and took a second one.
A few weeks later I went to the doctor and was given antidepressants and Xanax, which I started abusing almost immediately. It's funny, I was so anti-drugs when I was a teenager. I remember ending friendships with people because they started smoking pot. I always loved to drink, but I didn't think of Xanax and Valium as drugs because you could get them from a doctor.