Comedian and actor Marc Maron has been sober since August 9th, 1999. It took him decades of quitting and picking back up before reaching this amount of continuous sobriety.
“If you would have told me back then that I wouldn’t desire a drink or that I wouldn’t desire to do drugs at some point in my life,” he said, “I don’t think I would have believed you. I still have my vices—I drink a lot of coffee and I’m hopelessly addicted to nicotine in the form of lozenges. But those aren’t destroying my life or my health like other things would have.”[1]
In the last decade, Maron has seen a lot of professional success. He has a wildly popular podcast, WTF with Marc Maron—which has more than six million downloads each month—has had starring roles in the Netflix show Glow and his own show Maron, and put out three comedy specials. (His most recent, End Times Fun—which came out on Netflix in March 2020 but was likely written and filmed before that—was prescient).
Despite all of his success, he’s deeply honest both on his podcast and in interviews about the ways he still struggles. He talks a lot about working on his issues in therapy. In an interview with NPR, he said, “Being sort of anxious and uncomfortable has really been my home base, innately. And I don’t know how to change that, and that’s really the challenge for me now.” [2]
This is often the truth of sobriety; it tends to significantly change your life and allow you to build towards dreams you didn’t even think you could want—and you continue to work on some of the same issues.
One of those issues for Maron is eating disorders; it’s common for people to struggle with both addiction and eating disorders. “I think it’s my deepest issue, more than the drugs,” he said. “I don’t deny myself food anymore, but I still beat myself up about it. I guess it’s about self-loathing and control.” [3]
Maron’s sobriety does not appear to be as fraught for him. He recognizes its importance in his life and celebrates it—but the idea of using drugs or alcohol to cope is no longer an option for him.
Regarding celebrating soberversaries, he said, “It is a big deal, but it becomes less of one as the years go on. You don’t want it to consume your life, but you do want to acknowledge the big day…I feel like the obsession is gone. If things are hard, breaking that sobriety doesn’t really come up on the menu as the solution.”[4]
If you are struggling with a substance use or mental health disorder, there is hope. TruHealing Centers offers high-quality treatment for addiction and mental health disorders in facilities across the country. Our staff—many of whom are in recovery themselves—will help you find peace in recovery. To learn more, call an admissions specialist at 410-593-0005.
[1] https://slate.com/culture/2013/09/marc-maron-alcoholism-and-drug-addiction-an-interview.html
[2] https://www.npr.org/2016/05/24/479312227/marc-maron-on-sobriety-and-managing-his-uncomfortable-comfort-zone
[3] https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2018/jun/16/marc-maron-im-familiar-with-coke-anger-bullying-selfishness
[4] https://www.thefix.com/comedian-marc-maron-celebrates-17-years-sobriety