Drew Barrymore Says She Is ‘Overcautious’ About Dating Due to Childhood Traumas: ‘It Didn’t Feel Safe to Me’

Drew Barrymore revealed that she has become more guarded these days when it comes to dating, citing her childhood traumas as the root of the issue.

The longtime actress detailed her reservations during an interview with AARP published Thursday, during which she shared that her two daughters, Olive and Frankie, are encouraging her to dip her toes in the dating pool.

“My girls say I should go on dates, but I also know how I felt when men were around when I was little — it didn’t feel safe to me, so I’m probably overcautious from those experiences,” Barrymore explained.

In Barrymore’s 1991 autobiography “Little Girl Lost,” the actress said she experienced abuse from both her parents and shared that her father was a violent alcoholic. Through her developmental years from a child into older adolescence, Barrymore fell into a drug and alcohol addiction and at 14 emancipated herself from her parent’s guardianship.

In 2011, Barrymore found love with actor Will Kopleman (“The Intern”), whom she shares her two daughters with. The former couple stayed together for four years before divorcing in 2016, a hurdle Barrymore said was hard to overcome.

“My dream family was falling apart and I didn’t know how to put one foot in front of the other,” she said. “And I had grown up so fast but now I didn’t know what age to feel — I just knew that my life was heavy and painful and sad — and I sat in that for a while. Eventually, thank goodness, I lifted myself out of it. I had two kids and I had to figure it out.”

While Barrymore now hosts her own talk show, “The Drew Barrymore Show,” where she’s become known for her compassionate and intimate conversations, the world first knew her for her work in television and film — a world she stepped away from to focus on her children.

“I was in my early 40s, and not learning how to be my own healthy, independent individual, how to be the parent I dream to be,” Barrymore said. “Being other people doesn’t help me figure that out right now. And the long hours of doing films were hours I wouldn’t have with my kids. I wasn’t going to do that.”

As she approaches her milestone 50th on Feb. 22, the actress told AARP life couldn’t be better.

“It can’t come soon enough,” Barrymore said. “I feel like Frodo [in ‘The Lord of the Rings’]. I see that brass ring and I’m so excited! I have no issues with aging—this is the happiest I’ve been in my life.”

The post Drew Barrymore Says She Is ‘Overcautious’ About Dating Due to Childhood Traumas: ‘It Didn’t Feel Safe to Me’ appeared first on TheWrap.