Chiara de Blasio, New York City mayor-elect Bill's daughter, released a short video today discussing her trouble with clinical depression and substance abuse in an unprecedented pre-Christmas act, Reuters reported.
In the video released a couple days before de Blasio takes office, Chiara states how anyone growing up in New York grow up too fast and how she did not know how to handle with her depression and anxiety, leading her to smoke and drink, Reuters reported.
"Getting sober is always a positive thing," Chiara, 19,said, adding "we really can't do anything as a society to help those people until we start talking about it. And nobody can do sobriety on their own."
In a video released alongside Chiara's de Blasio and McCray said her "courage to speak out demonstrates a wisdom and maturity far beyond her 19 years, and we are grateful every day for her commitment to lifting up those who need to know that they are not alone," Reuters reported.
Chiara, who suffered with anxiety and turned to alcohol and marijuana as a coping mechanism, talks about seeking help in the video and tells her story with substance abuse which eventually landed her in an out-patient treatment program, Reuters reported.
"Removing substance from my life, it's opened so many doors for me. Like, I was actually able to participate in my dad's campaign, and that was like the greatest thing ever," Chiara states in the video.
Chirlane McCray, de Blasio's wife, and both his children were extremely present during his campaign, Reuters reported. An ad released this summer shows featuring his bi-racial son helped de Blasio gain the minority voters who were worried about the city's controversial police tactics, according to Reuters.
De Blasio also agreed to one interview to talk about his father's alcoholism and suicide in order to preempt a news article set to come out on the subject, Reuters reported.
