This week, the 40-year- old actress and mother of two released her new book WildFlower, as she celebrates the value of being a woman, and thanked her mother for inspiration. As she wrote on her instagram, "Today I wrote a book. And as I thank and celebrate many women this week, I must say a huge thank you to my mother. As I say in the acknowledgments, "thank you for my life. I am ever so pleased to be here!" We have had quite a road, but it is paved with gratitude. #amazingwomenweek #wildflowerbook and thank you to the @drewseum for the photo!"

At the age of 7, Barrymore captured the hearts of everyone as she performed the role on E.T.: The Extraterrestrial back in 1981, but during her teens, according to Biography.com, Barrymore developed a pre-teen fondness of drugs and alcohol. At 13, an enraged Barrymore became violent when she was unable to throw her mother out of the house. She was placed in a rehabilitation center, and later wrote of the experience in her autobiography, Little Girl Lost.

Drew Barrymore & Mother Jaid Relationship 'Is So Complicated,' She Explains in Marie Claire February 2014 Cover Story

In her February issue of More Magazine, the Miss You Already star reflects on her adolescent years and how those circumstances affect her in raising her children.

"I was a happy, blithering idiot," she says. "I don't know how to feel differently about it because I don't know what another life would be like, so it's hard to pretend or imagine or wish that it was different because it isn't. Even if I was a bad girl at moments here and there, I was never a bad person."

The actress opened up about her relationship with her mother and how it has become a challenge for her.

"I didn't really have parents, you know?" she admitted at the time. "And therefore the kind of parent I will be is a good, present parent. In a way, maybe that was a detriment to my youth, but it'll be the biggest asset to my adulthood."

"I look after her," Barrymore said about her mother, Jaid. "That is how I feel good about our relationship."

Meanwhile, the actress also shared her experiences with People Magazine, of being a mother and her struggle with postpartum depression after giving birth to her second daughter.

Drew Barrymore Baby 2013; Actress "Very, Very Happy" About Being Pregnant A Second Time

"I didn't have postpartum the first time with Olive so I didn't understand it because I was like, 'I feel great,'" she reveals. "The second time with Frankie, I was like, 'Oh, whoa, I see what people talk about now. I understand.' It's a different type of overwhelming with the second. I really got under the cloud.” says Barrymore.

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Drew Barrymore