Tom Holland Opens Up About The Struggle And Benefits Of His Sobriety Journey

Tom Holland has gotten candid about his struggles with alcohol. 

The Marvel Cinematic Universe star, who has been sober for more than a year, recently reflected on the magnitude of his alcohol intake, pointing out that it harmed his daily activities.

In fact, the actor called himself an alcohol addict who often had to question himself, his decisions, and his actions. Luckily, he was able to put down the bottle and has come to appreciate himself for making that life-altering decision.

Even though Holland began acting as early as 2006, it was when he took on the role of Spider-Man in the MCU that he became a fan favorite. Besides being great on screen, the actor has endeared himself even more to people through his openness about his personal struggles.

In his latest insightful conversation, the 27-year-old hunk talked about his alcoholism without shame, beginning with this admission, "I was definitely addicted to alcohol, not shying away from that at all. I think that anyone that has a beer every day has probably got a little bit of a problem."

However, knowing he had a problem was not enough for the "Chaos Walking" star to change until last year when he indulged too much during the 2021 festive season. Recalling the process on Monday, July 10's episode of the "On Purpose with Jay Shetty" podcast, he said:

"I didn't one day wake up and say, 'I'm giving up drinking.' I just, like many Brits, had had a very, very boozy December. [It was] Christmas time, I was on vacation, I was drinking a lot, and I've always been able to drink a lot. I think I get my genes from my mom's side in that thing — I can drink. And I decided to just give [it] up for January.

Unfortunately, dry January was more work than he bargained for, as all he could "think about was having a drink." The intensity of his cravings quickly began to worry him because it made him realize the probability of him having "a little bit of an alcohol thing."

"So I sort of decided to punish myself and say, 'I'll do February as well. I'll do two months off. If I can do two months off, then I can prove to myself that I don't have a problem,'" he recounted further.

Holland's craving for a drink continued, and he "started to really worry" about having an alcohol problem, ultimately making him decide to go six months without a drink. In his words:

"I said to myself, 'If I can do six months without alcohol, then I can prove to myself that I don't have a problem.' And by the time I got to June 1, I was the happiest I've ever been in my life."

Since then, the "The Crowded Room" actor has noticed some vast improvements in his life, including sleeping better and handling problems better.

"Things that would go wrong on set, that would normally set me off, I could take in my stride," he said, adding, "I had such better mental clarity. I felt healthier, I felt fitter." Yet, his most significant win would be seeing his mom, Nicola, get inspired by his progress without alcohol and decide to start her own sobriety journey, which has been "amazing" so far.

Last August, The Blast observed that Holland made another decision to put his well-being first and temporarily quit social media. Sharing the news in a video, the "The Devil All the Time" performer revealed that social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter felt "quite overwhelming and stimulating" for him.

The British Academy Film Award recipient said that reading about himself online sometimes made him spiral, a cycle that he considered "very detrimental" to his mental state. Thus, he chose to "take a step back and delete the app" and focus on helping his mental health.

During the monologue, Holland identified Stem4, an app run by his parents' charitable organization 'The Brothers Trust' and designed to help teenagers handle their mental health issues better. After noting that he wanted to emphasize what the organization was doing, Holland asked viewers to "take the time" to watch and share the clip with others.

Additionally, the "Spider-Man: No Way Home" actor explained more about the app in some parts of his lengthy Instagram caption. He has since returned to the platform, focusing on promoting his Hollywood projects.