Growing up and raising a child with millions of people watching you every week is hard enough, but when most of them are tuning in just to see you fail, sometimes things things spiral out of control. We've seen Teen Moms go to prison, enter rehab and lose their children, but Farrah Abraham has more or less held it together. At least on television.
Farrah's upcoming memoir My Teenage Dream Ended details her bouts with drugs, alcohol and depression. She goes on to tackle issues we never saw on TV, including the tragic loss of her boyfriend and daughter's father, Derek.
Farrah spoke with Ology about her upcoming book (out Aug. 14) and her first single, which is getting a lot of negative attention - all of which she takes in stride.
|Related: Farrah also talks about life after Teen Mom|
Ology: In the book you open up about your experiences with drugs, alcohol and suicide. Was there someone in your life that helped you overcome all of that?
Farrah: I think the main two people are Sophia, my daughter, and Derek, my boyfriend who passed away. Those are the main two people in my life that have motivated me to get over my selfishness or my immaturities and really try changing life where I’m selfish. Because different people have different views. And I think that’s what has made me so successful and has helped me be a normal, happy person once again. My main thing is not to have anybody idolizing [me] because every time I’ve tried to find a mentor, I’ve tried to really look up to somebody, I’ve only been let down. I hope that others just read some of these experiences and gain the knowledge that they don’t have to go through those experiences, and they can notice when the challenging times are happening in their lives so they can look around for a positive. I believe in making a bad situation into a great and amazing situation, you know? Because it’s a lot better for everyone.
We’ve seen you struggle when it comes to talking about Derek. Was it a relief to write all this stuff down?
Yes! Originally, I would just write things down and journal because at that time, I just felt like I just wasn’t having luck with friends and talking. My counselor was there for me, but you have to pay for a counselor, and I can only go to her so many times [laughs]. So I was going to counseling happily every day, and I was just like "I need something more," and she recommended that I write. Once I started writing, I thought it would be a great opportunity to share what I’m going through because I saw lots of people, shockingly, who had their boyfriends or girlfriends, or someone they love die in their lives. And it really impacted them in a negative way instead of having it be positive. Through talking to all those in different situations who have lost or who are depressed, I thought it was best to share my thoughts and share my experiences. I think and I know it will truly help others, and there are teen parents who haven’t lost anybody, but are parents, so they’ll get a lot from reading my story too.
People are still accusing you of doing drugs. How do you handle that?
You know, I just had an interview with Dr. Drew. He’s worked with us girls for the past 4 years, since we’ve been doing 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom, and he sees that there is a lot of stress. And he knows it’s never the right thing to turn to drugs. I think just myself realizing how to get through that was the main point. I have not done drugs or anything like that for over two years, and I think that’s why it’s important that others to read the book, so they understand how – like Amber, she had to go through a hard time. She turned to drugs, just like myself, and it’s really hard to go through that when others you have been friends with or your family look at you one way. And then two months later, we’re back to normal because we had to have counseling to get us through it and get our brains back on track to where we need to be medicated. It’s really sad and it’s really hard to get through, but it’s important I guess that when you’re on TV or if you’re having a hard time, to redo your emotional foundation. Get rid of those people who make it worse or make it harder to move forward in life. That’s what I’ve done and I think sometimes you see on the show my mom doesn’t quite understand that, and my mom’s a little bit tough to deal with as well. She’s knows that sometimes I just need a break from her because she doesn’t really help me out. But those are just really important points when others are reading the book.
I want to talk about the song because I'm sure you know, there's been a lot of talk about it.
There’s going to be lots of criticism everywhere. Most people don’t look at as therapeutic. To me, that was therapeutic. It was also another way for me to express myself. I’m an artist, I’m an entrepreneur. I love to dive in and experience new things now in a positive way. I have to say that they’ve only heard one song, but then they haven't heard all of the songs that go with the book. It is a book track. It is not like a Kanye West soundtrack or an album. The titles of those songs match 10 of the titles in the book, and those are the most important, I would say, times in my life as a teenager, and I thought it was really cool to have the opportunity to record my book because lots of teenagers, myself included, like music sometimes over book reading. I thought it was a great way to share other emotions through music rather than just reading.
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