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We recently learned that Brad Pitt is drinking again after seven years of sobriety.
Pitt believes he can drink responsibly after struggling with alcoholism in his younger years.
But according to at least one addiction expert, the Oscar winner is flirting with disaster.
Jessica Steinman, a Los Angeles addiction specialist and chief clinical officer for No Matter What Recovery, responded to Pitt’s recent revelation that he resumed drinking after seven years of sobriety.
While Steinman emphasized that she was not diagnosing Pitt with alcohol use disorder, she cautioned that returning to alcohol after struggling with substance use can be risky.
“There are people who struggle with substances and take a very large break, have a long period of sobriety and recovery, and they may choose to integrate it back into their lives,” Steinman told Fox News this week.
“As an addiction professional, as someone who’s been in this field for a very long time, I don’t see a whole lot of success with that.”
Steinman acknowledged that some people are able to return to drinking after years of sobriety without falling back into problematic patterns.
But she considers those people “anomalies and exceptions to the rule.”
And she says there can be a dangerous level of confidence that comes with years of sobriety.
“People think, ‘Oh, I’ve gone this long. I think I’m going to be able to manage it – I have the skills now. I have tools,’” she explained.
Steinman compared addiction to chronic health conditions that require ongoing management.
“I liken it to diabetes or heart disease – you have to manage this health issue,” she said. “And it’s the same thing for alcoholism and substance use issues.”
According to Steinman, addiction can alter the brain’s reward system, leaving it highly responsive to the dopamine associated with drinking or drug use.
“And that doesn’t go away – it lays dormant,” she said. The addiction specialist compared that dormant response to a bear in hibernation.
“If you wake that bear … life can quickly become unmanageable,” Steinman warned. “So they want to be very mindful of that happening.”
Steinman also pointed to some potential warning signs for anyone who has returned to drinking after a period of sobriety.
Those signs can include consuming increasingly larger amounts, erratic behavior, drinking alone, secretly drinking, or beginning to drink during the day.
She also noted that “moderation” can mean very different things depending on the person.
“Is it one drink a day? Is it a drink at dinner only? I’ve had people try out moderation by not having liquor at all and just sticking to beer and wine,” Steinman said.
“So it’s all these different trials that they’re doing when someone starts seeing an escalation.”
Steinman generally advises against what she described as “testing the waters” with alcohol after a problematic relationship with it.
And her message is clear: A lengthy period of sobriety doesn’t necessarily mean the underlying problem has disappeared.
Anyone noticing problematic behaviors involving alcohol or drugs, she advised, should speak with an addiction counselor.
Pitt, meanwhile, says he is confident he knows his limits. Whether an expert would agree with that assessment is another matter entirely.