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"As the family, friends, and fans of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman struggle to come to grips with the Oscar winner&amp;apos;s sudden, tragic death from an apparent drug overdose, another star was moved to share his own addiction story. Desperate Housewives alum Shawn Pyfrom penned a lengthy blog post on his official tumblr page entitled, &amp;quot;something i must share&amp;#x2026;&amp;quot;&amp;#xA0;\r\nThe 27-year-old, who is best known for playing Desperate Housewives&amp;apos; Andrew Van De Kamp -- the openly gay and occasionally meddlesome son of conservative housewife Bree Van De Kamp (Marcia Cross) -- revealed &amp;quot;against the advice of others&amp;quot; that he was &amp;quot;an alcoholic and a drug addict&amp;quot; who recently celebrated five months of sobriety.&amp;#xA0;\r\n\r\n&amp;quot;I&amp;apos;m relatively new to being sober, considering the scope of time that I&amp;apos;ve been an addict. But within that scope, this is also the longest I&amp;apos;ve been sober; since I began using,&amp;quot; he wrote. &amp;quot;I chose to share this about myself because I could not hear of another person being robbed of their life, due to addiction; knowing that I stayed quiet about mine.&amp;quot;&amp;#xA0;\r\n&amp;quot;I made a promise to myself that I would never stand as a preacher of sobriety -- speaking from a podium that could be interpreted as arrogant or judgmental,&amp;quot; Pyfrom continued. &amp;quot;I have no judgement for the way anyone chooses to live their life. And I only have compassion for those who currently struggle with their addictions.&amp;quot;&amp;#xA0;\r\n\r\nSince Desperate Housewives ended in 2012, the young star has appeared as a guest star on TNT&amp;apos;s Rizzoli &amp;amp; Isles and as Private John W. Nichols in the TV movie Killing Lincoln. In the tumblr post, he reveals that his substance abuse limited his professional opportunities.&amp;#xA0;\r\n\r\n&amp;quot;For several years, I lived for drugs,&amp;quot; he continued. &amp;quot;I thought more about using, than I thought about any other &amp;apos;pleasures.&amp;apos; I wasted the time of valuable people, who worked so hard to pull my career to a higher place, by allowing my addictions to tug me out of their grip.&amp;quot;&amp;#xA0;\r\nAnd while Hoffman&amp;apos;s death inspired his post, Pyfrom makes sure to note that the Oscar winner&amp;apos;s loss is no more significant than that of any other human being.&amp;#xA0;\r\n&amp;quot;When news reaches us of a public figure, like Mr. Hoffman, passing away form such a terrible affliction; we tend to get the feeling of great loss,&amp;quot; he noted. &amp;quot;It is a great loss. I feel grief when I hear of such a talented human being leaving this earth&amp;#x2026;but every life is important.&amp;quot;&amp;#xA0;\r\n\r\nHoffman was found dead in the bathroom of his New York City apartment on Sunday, Feb. 2 after suffering from an apparent drug overdose at the age of 46. He is survived by his girlfriend Mimi O&amp;apos;Donnell and three young children.&amp;#xA0;\r\nFans and celebrities alike have commended Pyfrom&amp;apos;s decision to open up about his own addiction. Pretty Little Liars star Lucy Hale tweeted, &amp;quot;@shawn_pyfrom you are brave &amp;amp; strong. I admire your honesty, my friend,&amp;quot; and former Revenge actress Ashley Madekwe retweeted the blog post with the comment, &amp;quot;Brave boy.&amp;quot;&amp;#xA0;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/shawn-pyfrom-desperate-housewives-reveals-addiction-struggles-blog-after-philip-seymour-hoffmans-death-201432>