Lucy Hale Admits 'Pretty Little Liars' Saved Her Life During Alcohol Addiction: 'I Don't Know If I Would've Made It' Without the Show

Actress Lucy Hale got candid about her past struggles with mental health and alcohol before she accepts the 2024 Humanitarian Award from women’s recovery center Friendly House on Saturday, September 14.

"When I got sober, my intention was never to be the poster child of sobriety, but when I began speaking about it, it came from a place of needing to heal and take my power back," she spilled to a news outlet of the decision she made in January 2022.

"I can't believe I'm at a place in my life where I can talk about the things that used to bring me so much shame," the star, 35, gushed.

Though the actress was still battling her demons while filming her role in the hit drama series Pretty Little Liars, she admitted the show — which ran from 2010 to 2017— saved her life.

"If I'm perfectly honest, without my career and without that creative outlet, I don't know if I would've made it. I think that show and my love of what I do was my North Star truly, it really gave me purpose, and still gives me purpose," the brunette beauty explained. "But I was constantly in this cycle of extreme depression and anxiety while having to show up to work and be on. And that 'being on' fueled even more drinking… I was caught in this cycle that I couldn't get out of."

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The Privileged alum started drinking as a teenager, which "shut" her brain off from constant feelings of loneliness.

"I always had a desire to change, but with any form of addiction, you become powerless to this obsession. I definitely had to go through my own process of getting sober," Hale shared. "It took many, many, many years, many relapses, many dark moments, many falling on my face quite literally, but figuratively as well to figure out what was working in my life, finding out why I was drinking, because removing alcohol is just one part of it."

The star recalled hitting "rock bottom" when she was 32.

"I made the choice on the morning of January 2, 2022 that I was going to do everything I could to get sober. I knew if I continued on that path, I would've lost everything I cared about," she disclosed. "It was the scariest choice in my life, but also it's been the best gift. When I made that change, everything else changed. My whole life has changed."

Now that the American Juniors star has a more relaxed and healthier lifestyle, her "brain chemistry has been recalibrating."

"What sobriety has taught me is to take things as they come and enjoy every moment of every day," she said. "I have big dreams, big aspirations, but where my life is at now is just trying to be as present as possible."

People spoke with Hale about her sobriety.