Shia LaBeouf was diagnosed with PTSD, partly due to his experiences of being a child star.
The 33-year-old actor shot to fame starring as Louis Stevens in the Disney Channel series ‘Even Stevens’ when he was 14, and he has opened up about his traumatic childhood – including his parents splitting when he was just five and growing up with an alcoholic father – and how stardom early in life led to his diagnosis.
Shia has penned the screenplay for the upcoming autobiographical drama ‘Honey Boy’, which tells the story of "A young actor’s stormy childhood and early adult years as he struggles to reconcile with his father and deal with his mental health."
Reflecting on his own situation, the ‘Transformers’ star admitted he feels that if he "had more money, there’d be no fighting" between his parents and that working was an "opportunity to be able to minimise the drama".
Speaking on The Hollywood Reporter’s ‘Awards Chatter’ podcast, he said: "I was an ordinary kid, for real, in an extraordinary situation."
Shia has been arrested for drunkenness himself and he realised after his last arrest in 2017, that if he didn’t get help and go to therapy to deal with his childhood trauma, he’d just keep ending up in prison.
And that is when he was told he has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
He said: "It was the first time I’d been told I had PSTD.
"I just thought I was an alcoholic, like a true-blue drunk and I needed to deal with that.
"I knew it was an issue but didn’t know there was this extra whole other thing that was hindering my ability to have any peace in my life and my ability to deal with people."
Shia used his real-life experiences to channel into the script for ‘Honey Boy’, in which he also plays James Lort.
Meanwhile, the ‘Holes’ star recently admitted he felt a sense of "shame" after his arrest in 2017.
Shia was apprehended for public drunkenness in Savannah, Georgia and repeatedly swore at the arresting officers who were called to his hotel.
Shia pleaded guilty to obstruction and no contest to disorderly conduct in relation to the incident and was ordered to undertake anger management classes, sentenced to one-year probation, and he also had to undergo alcohol evaluation and pay $2,680 in fines.
Recalling his return to the set of ‘The Peanut Butter Falcon’ after his arrest, he said: "I can’t look anyone in the eye. And I can’t come to terms with it. And no one’s talking to me and I’m talking to no one, and I know my life has exploded again. And I am in deep shame."
He was also involved in an alcohol-related incident during a Broadway performance of ‘Cabaret’ in 2014, when he was handcuffed and arrested after downing "a lot of whiskey".
At the time, a representative of Shia said: "He understands that these recent actions are a symptom of a larger health problem and he has taken the first of many necessary steps towards recovery."
Shia said: "On paper, I’m a f**k-up. I’m not Tom Hanks. Search my name on the internet and you’re going to find a list of scary things."
Shia LaBeouf reveals dark side of childhood stardom contributed to PTSD
