‘Teen Wolf’ Star Dylan Sprayberry Credits Scientology for Helping Him Overcome Substance Abuse Struggles

Dylan Sprayberry is opening up about his journey with Scientology.

The Teen Wolf alum, 28, took to Instagram over the weekend to detail his experience converting to the religion.

“I am a Scientologist. I’ve been a Scientologist for three years now,” the actor told his Instagram followers on Sunday, July 12. “It’s been an epic experience for me. It’s been so fantastic.”

Sprayberry, who starred on the hit MTV drama for four years, said he turned to Scientology after his struggles with substance abuse, explaining that it began after he got “clean and sober” off of “drugs” five years ago.

“Earlier on in my sobriety, I would say around two years, I was having this feeling where it’s like, ‘OK, I’m sober now. I’m really proud of myself, I do feel the difference of being off of drugs,’ but I started to really think back on my life and the decisions that I made,” Sprayberry recalled.

As for the reason he started using, the Man of Steel star said he felt “tons of anxiety and depression” as a teen, adding that he was a “chronic” drug user for 10 years before getting sober.

About two years into his sobriety, however, Sprayberry said he realized those feelings of anxiety and depression were “still there,” but “suppressed.”

It was then that he began looking for solutions to combat those dormant feelings and found Scientology, a religion that boasts several famous members, including Tom Cruise, John Travolta and more.

“The first thing that you do as a Scientologist — when you start doing your services — is something called the purification rundown,” he said, calling the rundown a “detox program that gets drugs and toxins out of your body for good.”

In addition to participating in the program, which Sprayberry called “fun,” he credited Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard‘s book, The Way to Happiness, with opening his eyes to the importance of creating his own joy.

“I had a huge realization, which sounds so silly to say now, but it was that happiness is not something that I have to get,” Sprayberry shared. “It’s something that I create within myself. I’ve been creating my state of being all this time. The whole reason I was depressed and anxious and all that stuff was because I was not being that person who creates happiness for myself.”

These days, Sprayberry, who is expecting his first baby with his wife, Pruette Karl, said he’s “doing great,” and boils it down, in large part, to his newfound faith.

“I just wanted to share that with you guys because it’s been such a special experience for me,” he concluded. “I’ve gotten to get myself in such a good place in life, and I’m doing genuinely fantastic.”

The actor’s update was met with mixed reactions from his fans and followers: some called it “disappointing,” while one user encouraged him to convert to Christianity, with a handful of comments suggesting therapy instead. Others, meanwhile, applauded him for sharing his story, calling it “beautiful.”

Sprayberry ended the video by telling his nearly 3 million followers that he would share the book’s link in his bio for those interested in learning more about Scientology.