We all remember Charlie Brown from the animated TV specials based off of the Peanuts comic strip.
The beloved character was voiced by Peter Robbins starting in 1963, but just because you have commercial success doesn’t mean you’re immune to the struggles of mental health and substance abuse.
In 2013, Peter Robbins was arrested at Homeland Security port of entry and was charged for threatening to cause death or bodily harm to four victims, including a San Diego police officer. A few months later, he was sentenced to jail for a year for threatening an ex-girlfriend, but instead, he went to seek treatment and after his release, went to a residential drug treatment center. Two years later, Robbins sent threatening letters to the manager of the mobile home park in which he was living in. In a hearing, he stated that he suffered from bipolar disorder and paranoid schizophrenia.
Peter Robbins Addictions and Mental Health Issues
Now that he is released from prison, Robbins says he’s hoping to make a comeback. He told KSWB, “Well, I know I was certainly mentally ill. I wish I had gotten treatment earlier by professionals.” He says he was manic. During his almost 5-year prison sentence, Peter says that his lowest point was when he was in solitary confinement.Peter was treated for drug addiction, alcohol addiction, and a sex addiction. The actor who provided the voice of Charlie Brown spent time in a mental hospital and then moved into a sober living home.
Robbins says, “I would recommend to anybody that his bipolar disorder to take it seriously because your life can turn around in a span of a month like it did to me.” To keep his freedom, he has to refrain from drinking, using drugs, and must take anger management classes.
What Peter went through sounds like a co-occurring disorder. Dual diagnosis (or co-occurring disorder) is when someone suffers from both substance abuse issues as well as mental health issues. People who are dealing with a dual diagnosis need co-occurring disorder treatment if they’re going to get and stay sober.
We are happy to see that Peter is taking the necessary steps to change his life and now has a second chance in creating a better world for himself.
Here at Banyan Treatment Centers, we offer various programs and therapies to help people struggling with addiction and mental health issues as well as the negative effects addiction may have on a family.
Take the first step to get help and call today: 888-966-9413
