Eminem "scared himself" with the extent of his drug addiction.
The rapper admits he only gave up taking illegal substances for good after he relapsed just weeks after an almost fatal drug-taking session in late 2007.
He explained: "I had overdosed in 2007, like right around Christmas in 2007... I pretty much almost died. You know, I pulled through and went home and relapsed less than a month later and I literally shot back up to the amount of pills I was taking, shot right back up to where I overdosed... Kind of I scared myself, like, 'Yo! I need to, I need help. Like I can't beat this on my own.'
"The things I was putting in my body, my tolerance got so high. I got to the point where I couldn't even count how many pills I was taking."
The hip-hop superstar has a 14-year-old daughter Hailie, his child with ex-wife Kimberley Scott, and two adopted girls Alaina, the child of Kimberley's sister, and Whitney - Kimberley's daughter from a previous relationship.
He is also the legal guardian of his younger half-brother Nathan.
The 37-year-old star eventually realised he needed to "take responsibility" for his actions, even though it was hard for him to admit he needed help.
He added in an interview with US TV show Access Hollywood: "I just got tired of the way I was living. I guess I really had to reach down, reach deep down and look at myself and realise this is my fault, like, take responsibility for the way I'm living and stop blaming other people. "The biggest problem is admitting that you have a problem. Nobody wants to admit that they're not in control of something."
*Recovery is out now. Read Scott Kara's review in today's Timeout
-BANG! Showbiz
Overdose scares Eminem straight
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.