Amber Portwood is sober, doing well in prison

Even though Amber Portwood initially regretted her decision to choose prison over rehab, according to her brother Shawn, she’s now adjusted to her prison life, and is enjoying being completely sober. The structure of prison is apparently a welcome difference from the chaos of her regular life. “She enjoys being up before 7 a.m., which is pretty hard to believe!”

Shawn told OK! Magazine “She’s surprised at how well she’s doing. She likes being completely clean and sober. It’s good that she’s there because she has a new level of focus and commitment that she couldn’t get on her own.”

Amber is also about to start classes to finally completely her GED, and other classes to learn a trade. She’s going to church, and is “really excited” about taking drug abuse classes. “She’s going to learn about her disease and understand it.”

She hopes she won’t have to stay for the full five years (she’ll be up for parole in two-and-a-half years,) but for now this may be the best thing for her. She hasn’t been able to see her daughter Leah, and that’s probably the biggest tragedy of the situation: Leah won’t get to see her mother much for the next few years, and when she does, it will be in prison. However, if Amber is able to use the prison’s structure and programs to better herself and overcome some of her worst demons, maybe this is the best thing in the long-run.

Shawn:

“Prison is no cake walk, but Amber is doing the best she can in there, and she’s doing really well.”