BEN AFFLECK

Jennifer Garner comes to the aid of her ex as the actor seeks help to stay sober

Inside the actor’s long battle with addiction.

Ben Affleck has made no secret of his struggle with alcohol abuse. “I want my kids to know there is no shame in getting help when you need it,” he said in March after a stay in rehab. For Affleck, 45, the road to recovery has continued to be a bumpy one. After a relapse in September—“he was so sick from partying,” says an insider—the Justice League star headed back to residential rehab for a few days with assistance from his ex Jennifer Garner and his brother Casey Affleck, multiple sources confirm. “He asked for help,” says a family source. “He wants to be sober.” Since then, he’s been going to outpatient treatment in LA and has travelled with a sober coach as he promotes his latest outing as Batman. “This is a lifelong battle, not one that he takes lightly,” adds a friend, who says Affleck has been in “continual” treatment since his March rehab stay. “His focus is on his family and getting better so that he can continue with what he loves.”

Starting with the boxoffice flop of his movie Live

back in January, Affleck has “had a rough year,” says the family source, but “at the moment he is doing great. He seems more honest with himself. He just needs daily support and encouragement to stay healthy.” After he and Garner filed for divorce this April following almost two years of separation, Affleck went

“He just needs daily support and encouragement to stay healthy” —An Affleck source

Although Shookus (in New York on Sept. 9) has been helping Affleck house-hunt. a source says, “This fling is fun for Ben now, but I don’t see it as a serious relationship.” BEN AFFLECK