Lucy Hale recalls how starring in Pretty Little Liars 'fueled' her alcohol abuse as she battled 'extreme depression and anxiety' behind-the-scenes

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Lucy Hale has opened up about her years-long battle with alcohol abuse, and she admitted that starring in Pretty Little Liars 'fueled' her addiction as she suffered from 'extreme depression and anxiety' behind-the-scenes.

The actress, 35, who was shot into stardom after she starred as Aria Montgomery in the Freeform series, explained to People magazine recently that she 'felt alone and misunderstood' from a young age.

As a teenager, she said she 'found alcohol' and immediately fell in love with how it would 'shut her brain off.'

And when she was cast in Pretty Little Liars and thrust into the spotlight at age 21, her problems only worsened as she struggled to come to terms with the immense pressures that came with being a star.

She told the publication that having to 'be on' all the time in public while secretly battling 'extreme depression and anxiety' only pushed her to want to drink more.

Lucy Hale has opened up about her years-long battle with alcohol abuse, and she admitted that starring in Pretty Little Liars 'fueled' her addiction

'I was constantly in this cycle of extreme depression and anxiety while having to show up to work and be on,' she recalled.

'And that "being on" fueled even more drinking… I was caught in this cycle that I couldn't get out of.'

But Lucy credited the show with keeping her going, as she admitted that she might not have 'made it' if she hadn't landed her role in Pretty Little Liars. 

'If I'm perfectly honest, without my career and without that creative outlet, I don't know if I would've made it,' the brunette beauty continued.

'I think that show and my love of what I do was my North Star truly, it really gave me purpose, and still gives me purpose.'

She said it took 'hitting rock bottom' at age 32 to finally get sober, after 'many, many, many years' of 'relapses and dark moments.'

And looking back, she said she believes she would have 'lost everything she cared about' if she 'continued on that path.'

'I definitely had to go through my own process of getting sober,' the star added.

The actress, 35, who starred as Aria Montgomery in the Freeform series, said to People that she suffered from 'extreme depression and anxiety' behind-the-scenes

She said it took 'hitting rock bottom' at age 32 to finally get sober, after 'many, many, many years' of 'relapses and dark moments.' She's seen earlier this year

'It took many, many, many years, many relapses, many dark moments, many falling on my face quite literally, but figuratively as well to figure out what was working in my life, finding out why I was drinking, because removing alcohol is just one part of it.

'[Getting sober] was the scariest choice in my life, but also it's been the best gift. When I made that change, everything else changed. My whole life has changed.' 

Lucy has been sober since January 2022, but confessed that even now, two years on, she still struggles 'every day.'

'I still have to make the choice every day like, "OK, today I'm staying sober and today I'm choosing me,"' she shared.

'But that goes deeper than just not drinking. My life feels so good now that I wouldn't give that up for anything.

'What sobriety has taught me is to take things as they come and enjoy every moment of every day. I have big dreams, big aspirations, but where my life is at now is just trying to be as present as possible.'

She is now set to receive the 2024 Humanitarian Award on Saturday from a Los Angeles-based women's addiction recovery center called Friendly House.

'I can't believe I'm at a place in my life where I can talk about the things that used to bring me so much shame,' she concluded.

'But when I began speaking about it, it came from a place of needing to heal and take my power back.' 

The Pretty Little Liars alum previously explained that she turned to alcohol as a 'coping mechanism' and described her past self as 'incredible self-destructive' 

Lucy has been sober since January 2022, but confessed that even now, two years on, she still struggles 'every day.' The cake she made to celebrate one year of sobriety in 2023 is seen 

The Pretty Little Liars alum previously explained that she turned to alcohol as a 'coping mechanism' and described her past self as 'incredible self-destructive.'

'One of my best friends died of alcoholism, and that still didn't make me want to get sober... None of that s**t works,' she said last year on Steve Bartlett's The Diary of a CEO podcast.

'But alcohol wasn't the problem, the problem is this feeling inside of me. You have to go to a dark place sometimes to get to that point... It’s dark, disgusting, and scary.'

She also revealed that she previously suffered from an eating disorder. 

'When we have success in life, we have an assumption that it’ll fix a bunch of stuff,' she continued.

'I struggled with an eating disorder, because society makes it really freaking hard to like the way you look.

'I hated myself so much that I couldn't even give it basic needs like food... I did not feel worthy of the success or the career or the people in my life.'