Trishala on father Sanjay Dutt’s past drug addiction: ‘It’s a disease he has to fight every single day’

Sanjay Dutt’s daughter Trishala Dutt has addressed the actor’s past drug addiction, saying that it is a disease he has to fight ‘every.single.day’. She was replying to a person’s question on social media, who asked how she perceives her father’s past addiction, given she is a psychologist.

Trishala explained how addiction is actually a disease. “First it’s important to note that addiction is a chronic disease characterised by drug seeking and use that compulsive, or difficult to control, despite harmful consequences.” She then added, “The initial decision to take drugs is voluntary for most people, but repeated drug use can lead to brain changes that challenge an addicted person’s self-control and interfere with their ability to resist intense urges to take drugs,” she wrote.

She said addiction is nothing to be ashamed of, instead it should be acknowledged and treated. “When it comes to my father’s past drug use, he will always be in recovery. It’s a disease he has to fight every.single.day. Even though he’s not using anymore. I’m proud of my father for admitting he had a problem, taking initiative and seeking help for it. There is nothing, not a damn thing, to be ashamed about,” Trishala wrote.

Sanjay has been open about his addiction, saying that he was at the death’s door when he decided to ask father Sunil Dutt for help after mother Nargis’ death. He was in a rehab centre in the US for a while. “It was morning and I was hungry. My mother had passed away then but I told my house help that I am hungry and asked him to give me some food. He said, ‘Baba, it has been two day since you have eaten.’ Then I went to the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. I was in a dying condition and was bleeding from my mouth and nose,” he had recounted.