Demi Moore's hospitalization puts spotlight on alleged past demons

Demi Moore’s sudden hospitalization following a 911 call Tuesday has led the 49-year-old actress to seek professional help -- reportedly for substance abuse.

"Because of the stresses in her life right now, Demi has chosen to seek professional assistance to treat her exhaustion and improve her overall health," Moore’s rep said in a statement. "She looks forward to getting well and is grateful for the support of her family and friends."

TMZ.com cites sources who say that Moore is seeking treatment for substance abuse. If their report is correct, this isn’t Moore’s first visit to rehab. “Drugs and alcohol took their toll,” People magazine reported in 1996 about the effect substance abuse had on Moore’s career during the early '80s.

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Things reportedly got so bad that “St. Elmo’s Fire” director Joel Schumacher threatened to fire Moore if she didn’t clean up her act. “Moore promptly entered a rehab program and arrived on the set two weeks later clean and sober,” reported People magazine.

A history of alcoholism runs in Moore’s family. Her mother and stepfather were reportedly alcoholics “who often fought and beat each other,” according to the UK Biography Channel.

Moore’s mother, Virginia Guynes, had a long record of arrests for crimes, including drunken driving and arson. According to People magazine, Moore paid for her mother’s rehab at the Hazelden Addiction Treatment Center in Minnesota in the '90s. When Guynes walked out of the program, Moore broke off all contact with her.

Guynes died from a brain tumor in New Mexico at the age of 54 in 1998.

Substance abuse or not, Moore has had a rough couple of months. In November, she split from her 33-year-old husband, Ashton Kutcher, after he reportedly had a series of extra-marital flings.

"It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I have decided to end my six-year marriage to Ashton," Moore said in a statement announcing her divorce. "As a woman, a mother and a wife there are certain values and vows that I hold sacred, and it is in this spirit that I have chosen to move forward with my life. This is a trying time for me and my family, and so I would ask for the same compassion and privacy that you would give to anyone going through a similar situation."

Moore, who has looked frail and gaunt in recent photos, was set to play feminist icon Gloria Steinem in the Linda Lovelace biopic, “Lovelace.”

According to People magazine, Moore is no longer working on the project.