Mumbai, Sep 23 (IANS): In a long Instagram post, actress-filmmaker Pooja Bhatt talks of how she combated drinking issues, highlighting why speaking up about addiction is an act of courage.

"Three years and nine months sober today. One more quarter and I will be four. As someone who drank openly, I chose to recover openly. I truly felt it was important to share my journey to tell others, women especially, who might be struggling that they are not alone & if I could do it so could they. Was ridiculed by some but lauded for being courageous by most," Pooja wrote.

"I wondered why people termed speaking openly about addiction issues courageous. And also why there is an ‘anonymous' attached to groups that help you recover. I understand more than ever today that it's because people simplify/stigmatise addictive behaviour and tend to criminalise it without attempting to understand why someone used a substance to begin with," she added.

Consuming alcohol was completely her choice, she averred.

"Alcohol is a drug, and was my drug of choice. Just because it is socially acceptable does not mean it is not. I have had to make more excuses for not drinking in the last few years than I ever have for drinking-to friends, foes and ‘well' meaning acquaintances alike. A fractured society can only heal & evolve when we attempt to ‘understand' instead of constantly standing in judgement," she continued.

"When we empathise instead of vilify. Until then and even beyond, I will continue to speak from a place of compassion & truth,in the hope that there is ONE person out there I could goad to start on their own journey of sobriety and stay on their path. So help me God," she concluded.

Pooja was recently seen in her father Mahesh Bhatt's comeback directorial "Sadak 2", which also features her sister Alia Bhatt along with Sanjay Dutt, Alia Bhatt and Aditya Roy Kapur.