Tom Holland talks about the struggles and benefits of his journey to sobriety

Tom Holland has spoken candidly about his struggle with alcohol.

The star of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, who has been sober for more than a year, recently reflected on the magnitude of his alcohol consumption and pointed out that it is affecting his day-to-day activities.

In fact, the actor called himself an alcoholic who often had to question himself, his decisions and actions. Fortunately, she was able to put the bottle down and credit herself for making this life-changing decision.

Tom Holland has acknowledged the positive turn his life has taken since he quit drinking

Even though Holland started acting as early as 2006, he became a fan favorite when he took on the role of Spider-Man in the MCU. Apart from his stellar performance on screen, the actor endeared himself to people even more through his openness about his personal struggles.

In his latest insightful interview, the 27-year-old shamelessly opened up about his alcoholism, starting with this admission. “I was definitely addicted to alcohol, I wasn’t deterred by that at all. I think anyone who drinks beer every day probably has a bit of a problem.”

However, the ‘Chaos Walking’ star’s realization that she had issues wasn’t enough to make her change until last year, when she overindulged during the 2021 holiday season. Recalling the process on the Monday, July 10, episode of the “On Purpose with Jay Shetty” podcast, he said:

“Not one day did I wake up and say I was going to stop drinking. Only I, like many Brits, had a very, very boozy December. (It was) At Christmas, I was on vacation, I drank a lot, and I’ve always been able to drink a lot. I think I get my genes from my mother’s side in this thing – I can drink. And I decided to give it up for January.

Unfortunately, the dry January was more work than he bargained for as he “could only think of one drink”. The intensity of his desire soon filled him with concern as he realized that he had “a bit of an alcoholic thing going on”.

So I decided to punish myself and say: »I’ll do it in February too. I’m giving you two months off. If I can take two months off, I can prove to myself that there is nothing wrong with me,” he continued.

Holland’s cravings for drink continued and he became “very concerned” that he had an alcohol problem, eventually deciding to go six months without drinking. According to his words:

“I said to myself, ‘If I can go six months without alcohol, I can prove to myself that I’m okay.’ And by the time I got to June 1st, I was the happiest I’d ever been in my life.”

Since then, the Crowded Room actor has noticed significant improvements in his life, including better sleep and better coping with problems.

“The things that went wrong on set and the things that usually set me off, I was able to pick up,” he said, adding, “My mental clarity was much better. I felt healthier and fitter.” Still, his biggest win would be seeing his mother Nicola become inspired by his alcohol-free progress and decide to embark on her own sobriety journey, which has been “amazing” so far.

The “Uncharted” star took a brief hiatus from social media in 2022

Last August, The Blast observed that Holland has made another decision to prioritize her well-being and temporarily withdraw from social media. Sharing the news in a video, “The Devil All the Time” artist revealed that social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter felt “quite overwhelming and stimulating” for her.

The British Academy Award-winner said reading about himself online sometimes sent him into a spiral, a cycle he considers “very damaging” to his mental state. So she decided to “take a step back and delete the app” and focus on helping her mental health.

During the monologue, Holland identified Stem4, an app run by his parents’ charity The Brothers Trust, which aims to help teenagers better manage their mental health issues. After noting that she wanted to highlight the organization’s work, Holland asked viewers to “take the time” to watch the clip and share it with others.

Additionally, the “Spider-Man: No Home Road” actor elaborated on the app in a few parts of the lengthy Instagram caption. He has since returned to the platform, focusing on promoting his Hollywood projects.