Abel Tesfaye, better known as breakout pop/R&B sensation the Weeknd, has a magic pen when it comes to turning his pain into pleasure-filled hits about sex, love and drugs. On his song “The Hills” he sings, “When I’m f—-d up/That’s the real me” and the lyric – like many of his others – comes from life experiences that are as deep and dark as the tracks he sings over.
Before finding fame as R&B’s resident mystery man Tesfaye admits that behind his towering sense of self-confidence lurked a dark past. “I didn’t have a father figure in the house. No boys around. Just me and my mom,” the bad boy vocalist recently told The Guardian of his upbringing.
At the age of 17, Tesfaye dropped out of high school and moved out of his mother’s home into a one-bedroom apartment in a suburb of Toronto with his pal La Mar Taylor, where he turned to drugs like Ketamine, cocaine, MDMA, mushrooms and cough syrup as a way to escape.
“When I had nothing to do but make music, it was very heavy. Drugs were a crutch for me. There were songs on my first record that were seven minutes long, rambling – whatever thoughts I was having when I was under the influence at the time. I can’t see myself doing that now,” he continued.
However, after a few run-ins with the law – including a few “nights in jail” – the singer admitted it was “bad enough for me to smarten up, to focus.”
The crooner went on to confess he still uses in the creative sense, adding that on “The past couple of albums, I do get back to that [drugs] — Even on this new album. You have writer’s block. And sometimes you’re like, I can’t do this sober.”
Still, according to Tesfaye he’s neither addicted nor has he ever sought treatment for drug abuse. “No. Definitely not,” he told The Guardian. “I think that’s more when you’re privileged, you know? Going to a therapist is not something you do when you’re growing up as a street kid in Toronto.”
While the Weeknd appears to have his recreational use under control (for now), fact of the matter is, addiction — a chronic disease characterized by compulsive drug use, despite harmful consequences — is a devastating reality millions of Americans face each day. In fact, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “Abuse of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs is costly to our Nation, exacting more than $700 billion annually in costs related to crime, lost work productivity and health care.”
To make matters worse, much like Tesfaye, who began using as a teen, “90% of those with an addiction began drinking, smoking or using illicit drugs before the age of 18,” the Addiction Center reports. Although most people don’t get the treatment they need, the signs of addiction are clear.
If you exhibit the three C’s of addiction: loss of control over the amount and frequency of use, craving and compulsive using, continued use in the face of adverse consequences, there is no better time than now to get help.
If you feel that you or a loved one is suffering with addiction of any sort, get immediate help here.
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