How Community Helped This Disney Star Overcome Addiction

Published: June 12, 2026

By Kayla DeKraker

Actor Joshua Bassett credits his community for saving his life while he struggled with a ketamine addiction.

“My roommate and my best friend, we have a system of accountability, and I can’t break a pinky promise. I won’t be able to look them in the eyes,” he said on the “More Life With Carl Radke” podcast of his accountability system.

“So I have systems in place to ensure that I don’t fall into a spot that would be harmful again because I think the danger before was isolation. I was completely alone,” he said. “Nobody was checking me; I kind of doing whatever I wanted.”

The 25-year-old HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL: THE MUSICAL: THE SERIES said that his addiction almost killed him.

“I was like 23 when things got really out of hand,” Bassett admitted. “It should have killed me, the level of [substance use]. It really was like a daily nightmare, and it just progressed and progressed and progressed and got to a point of almost killing me.”

He continued, “I was constantly in a state of extreme fight, flight, freeze, distress. Every day was just an attempt to disappear. I didn’t wanna kill myself. I just didn’t want to be alive. So I did everything I could to be completely numb, and the second I wasn’t numb, I did anything I could to get numb again.”

His addiction was severe.

“My dealer didn’t start selling until 3:00 p.m. So, I’d set an alarm for 2:55, go down to the ATM, get as much as my daily limit would allow on the ATM, and then I’d buy as much as that would get me,” Bassett said. “And I would try to make it last, and it wouldn’t last until 3:00 the next day. I would, you know, I would use it all before, you know, 10:00 a.m.”

Now Bassett finds his identity in God.

“I think I’m so strong in my identity now and my security and my community and my friends and my identity with God and my love for myself that I’m no longer seeking that validation and approval from others,” he said. “And so that’s where the freedom is, because for a while, I was at the mercy of the opinion of others and that’s why I was drowning.”

Bassett got baptized in 2023, saying at the time, “No other teacher gave me anywhere near the peace that Jesus Christ did. I’m here to publicly declare him as my Lord and Savior.”

Today, he uses his platform to encourage others, recently publishing a memoir, titled Rookie, about his struggles.

Last month, he posted an excerpt to Instagram. It reads, “no matter what you’re going through, dear reader, no matter how dark it gets, you must carry on. you must ask for help. the burden you hold today won’t be yours forever. there is so much life to live endless love to give and receive and oh so much joy to be found.”

He continued, “you are loved. your life is precious. love is worth living for. hold on tight get the help you need and please believe me when i say you will be alright — more than alright — all in due time.”

What a powerful reminder that leaning on community and turning to Christ brings freedom.

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