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Prince's death prompts Jamie Lee Curtis to open up on addiction: 'I was toxic'

In her essay, the actress states she "sought to kill emotional and physical pain with painkillers," adding, "Kill it. Make it stop."
/ Source: TODAY

In the aftermath of Prince's death, Jamie Lee Curtis is sharing her deeply personal story of opiate addiction.

Jamie Lee Curtis on the red capret for "Scream Queens" on March 12, 2016
Jamie Lee Curtis attends a "Scream Queens" screening March 12, 2016.AP

Her Huffington Post essay "Kill the Pain," published Thursday, links to a New York Times article citing "mounting evidence that [Prince] had become seriously dependent on painkillers."

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Wrote the actress, "I can relate. I was toxic too."

Golden Globe-nominated for her current role on Fox's "Scream Queens," Curtis added that she was "secretly addicted" to an opiate prescription, adding she "sought to kill emotional and physical pain with pain killers. Kill it. Make it stop."

Jamie Lee Curtis, from "Scream Queens", poses for a portrait during the Fox 2015 Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour at the Beverly Hilton on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2015, in Beverly Hills, Calif..
Jamie Lee Curtis attends the Fox Television Critics Association event in Beverly Hills, California, on Aug. 6, 2015.AP

Finding a newfound poignancy in both James Taylor's addiction ballad "Fire and Rain" and Prince's "Purple Rain," Curtis mourned those who have lost their lives to drug addiction.

"I am one of the lucky ones as I have been in recovery from opiate addiction for over 17 years. … Most people who become addicted, like me, do so after a prescription for a painkiller following a medical procedure," she wrote. "Once the phenomenon of craving sets in, it is often too late."

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The essay's conclusion advocates for opiate-addiction awareness and actions to cut down on opiate prescriptions in an effort to save lives.

"Let's work harder, look closer and do everything we can not to enable and in doing so, disable, our loved ones who are ill," she wrote. "This is what it sounds like when we all cry."

Follow TODAY.com writer Chris Serico on Twitter.