In a revealing new interview, Ben Affleck opened up about his long-standing fight with alcoholism and depression.
The Oscar-award winning actor sat down with Good Morning America co-anchor Diane Sawyer to talk about how much he would drink and how it affected his relationships.
"I started to drink more, and more, and more. And it was really hard for me to accept that that meant that I was an alcoholic," Affleck said. "I was like, 'I could just go back. I was fine before. You know, I just need to take a break. I just need to slow down.'"
He was soon unable to control just how much he would drink. "I started to drink every day," the actor said. "I mean, I'd come home from work and I'd start to drink. And then I'd just sit there and drink till I passed out on the couch."
In 2018, Affleck checked himself into rehab and spent a month in a treatment facility for alcohol addiction. He also recently revealed that his decision to step down from his role as Batman was influenced, at least in part, to drinking.
He touched on his divorce from ex-wife Jennifer Garner, something he never thought was going to happen. "I never thought I was going to get divorced," Affleck said, mentioning that his father's alcohol addiction tore his family apart when he was younger. "I didn’t want to get divorced, I didn’t want to be a divorced person. I really didn’t want to be a split family with my children. It upset me because it meant I wasn’t who I thought I was and that was so painful and so disappointing ... In myself. I really don’t want my children to pay for my sins or to be afraid for me."
Affleck has three kids with Garner: 14-year-old Violet, 11-year-old Seraphina Rose, and 7-year-old Samuel.
