One time my friend got lost in the West Village and asked a kerbside Santa Claus for directions. That generous, rotund, bearded stranger was – unbeknownst at the time – Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and he was very kind, helpful and gave excellent directions.
Also very kind, helpful and offering of excellent directions are rehabilitation clinics, one of which Philip Seymour Hoffman just left following a voluntarily 10-day stint to treat his problems with narcotic abuse.
Hoffman told TMZ he’d completed a detox program last Friday after falling off the wagon more than a year ago following a 23-year period of sobriety. His year long descent started “slowly with prescription pills, and recently escalated to snorting heroin,” which apparently “only lasted a week” before he checked himself into an East Coast facility. It was there with the support of “a great group of friends and family” that PSH received the necessary treatment to help kick his substance abuse problems.
According to the report, Hoffman is back on the straight and narrow and working on a film set in Europe.
If you need assistance or support with narcotic abuse, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Quitline on 13 18 48. For further contact information, see the Australian Drug Foundation or talk to a medical practitioner or someone you trust.
Photo: Gareth Cattermole via Getty
