‘I was suicidal’: Australian singer Sia recalls how she almost ended her life during the height of her drug and alcohol addiction – and how sobriety has now changed her life
Australian songstress Sia has spoken candidly about her battle with drug and alcohol addiction.
Speaking on KIIS FM’s Kyle and Jackie O show on Thursday, the 44-year-old said she gave up drinking and drugs after she struggled heavily with her addiction and even prepared to end her own life.
‘I know that I could drink if I wanted to, but I choose not to. But the drugs just took me down really quickly. It was painkillers, you know it was opiates it was a real problem,’ she said.
‘I was suicidal’: Australian singer Sia (pictured) has spoken candidly about her battle with drug and alcohol addiction on Thursday
She continued: ‘It was only about six months that I was addicted to them before I was suicidal and like, I just had to get sober.’
The singer said she knew she had to move away from drugs and alcohol to become even more successful than she already was.
‘I can make a lot of people’s dreams come true, which is the best feeling ever, especially now that I don’t drink or do drugs. That’s the new high,’ she said.
‘I just had to get sober’: She said she gave up drinking and drugs after she struggled quite heavily with addiction and even prepared to end her own life
In 2015, Sia told OK magazine that her darkest point came in 2010 when she wrote a suicide note and prepared to end her own life, until a timely phone call from a friend caused her to reconsider.
‘There was a small voice [in me] that wanted to live,’ she told the publication.
She added: ‘And the only thing I knew how to do was to call someone who was also in the program, and then I just did what I was told and I’m still sober now, so I am really grateful.’
‘I’d look at other people and think, “They look fine and happy; they even have families and have kids, how do they do it? They seem to be enjoying this ride called life”.’
Difficult: In 2015, Sia revealed that her darkest point came in 2010, when she wrote a suicide note and prepared to end her own life
The singer had relied on alcohol to get her through live shows whilst on her US tour, and later became addicted to antidepressants and pain medication, including Xanax and OxyContin after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
Her battle with alcoholism and depression intensified after her boyfriend was hit by a taxi driver and killed just days before she was due to visit him in London.
Sia returned to the spotlight in 2014 after working exclusively as a songwriter and released her sixth studio album 1000 Forms Of Fear.
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Return: Sia returned to the spotlight in 2014 after working exclusively as a songwriter and released her sixth studio album 1000 Forms Of Fear