Bradley Cooper feels that refraining from the use of drugs and alcohol benefits his life immensely.

The 37-year-old actor confesses that he used to get extremely crazy under the influence of substances in his past.

Bradley is sober now and does not want to revisit his dark days of getting wasted.

"I don't drink or do drugs at all anymore," he told The Hollywood Reporter.

"Being sober helps a great deal.

"I was at a party and deliberately bashed my head on the concrete floor -- like, 'Hey, look how tough I am!' And I came up, and blood dripped down. And then I did it again. I spent the night at St. Vincent's Hospital with a sock of ice, waiting for them to stitch me up.

"I was so concerned what you thought of me, how I was coming across, how I would survive the day. I always felt like an outsider. I just lived in my head. I realised I wasn't going to live up to my potential, and that scared the hell out of me. I thought, 'Wow, I'm actually gonna ruin my life; I'm really gonna ruin it.' "