Teen Mom star Amber Portwood went on Good Morning America last week to explain why she chose a five-year prison sentence over completing rehab from prescription pill abuse.
“I’m not just going to sit,” Portwood said during the interview. “I’m going to take substance abuse classes. I’m going to get my GED.”
Her decision is an odd choice since she was offered out-patient treatment instead of prison, but she said the prison sentence will help her sober up and stay off drugs.
The reality star was arrested on May 24 for violating her drug probation requirements by failing a urine test and then lying about it.
It’s not the first time Portwood has been behind bars. She’s been jailed several times in the past for drug abuse and was court ordered to finish her drug-treatment program. She was also arrested last year on domestic abuse charges for beating her boyfriend, Gary Shirley, and lost custody of their three-year old daughter, Leah.
Portwood told GMA that she has been suffering from depression and almost committed suicide by overdosing on prescription pills such as Suboxone, a drug used for treating opioid dependence. She said that when her depression kicked it, she would take “4 or 5 at a time.” She has made several suicide threats in the past year alone.
“I feel like I’d rather do my time, get it over with, and make the best of the situation that’s been handed to me,” she said.
Portwood is leaving her daughter in the custody of the child’s father, Shirley.
Viewers have followed Portwood’s struggle on MTV’s Teen Mom, which will return for its final season Tuesday and will feature Portwood going to rehab.
Check it out.
