Renee Graziano reflects on the “dark world” of addiction she’s managed to overcome.
56-year-old Wives of mobsters alum — who is now sober — appeared on the latest episode of PageSix’s Virtual Reali-Tea podcast and spoke about the reality of her drug addiction past.
“Addiction is a dark world. I was never addicted to drugs. I was addicted to power, I was addicted to men, I was addicted to my world, my lifestyle,” she explained. “Drugs were my solace. That kept me going [going].”
Graziano said the drug was a “solution” to her problems, including dealing with the death of her father Anthony Graziano – a former Bonanno family consigliere – and the end of her marriage to Hector Pagano Jr.
“In a strange way … I think sometimes self-medication kept me alive,” she admitted. “Because I think if I really had to go through it without the medication, I might not have made it. And it’s true and I don’t even like to say it that way, but it’s true.”
“I can’t blame anyone for my addiction,” she said. “I can’t. I would love to. I think my ex-husband has a part in it, I think my lifestyle has a part in it. But ultimately, it’s my responsibility to take action or not. I am very clear about that.”
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Renee Graziano.
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In March, Graziano opened up about her near-fatal overdose last year, talking about Bunnie XO Stupid blonde podcast about how she was hospitalized after taking drugs laced with fentanyl.
“I just lost with…, man. On September 18, someone gave me a bag of fentanyl,” she recalled, explaining that she received a bad batch of an unspecified drug she was hoping to get. “I died in a restaurant in Florida. I was dead, intubated for three days. No one in my family came to the hospital and I spent nine days there learning to walk again.”
“That was it for me,” she said, noting that she doesn’t remember anything from the overdose. “Three days have been erased from my brain. I don’t even know what happened.”
Graziano said the near-death experience — plus her family not being there — ultimately pushed her to turn her life around and check into rehab not long after. “They said I wouldn’t make it and that my family just couldn’t do it,” she said. “And I don’t blame them. I put them through hell.”
The reality star recently celebrated nine months of sobriety since the moment that changed her life.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the SAMHSA Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education