Inside Ben Affleck's Addiction Battle and How Ex-Wife Jennifer Garner Has Helped Him 

Inside Ben Affleck\'s Battle with Addiction — and How Jennifer Garner Has Helped Him

Ben Affleck hasn’t been afraid to ask for help in keeping his life and sobriety on track.

star, who has been open about his struggle with alcohol abuse, leaned on others, including his ex Jennifer Garner, after suffering a relapse in September, sources tell PEOPLE in the magazine’s new issue.

“He asked for help,” a family source says, adding, “He wants to be sober.”

Garner and Affleck’s brother Casey helped Affleck, 45, go back into inpatient treatment for a few days. Since then, he’s been going to outpatient treatment in L.A., and has traveled with a sober coach as he promotes his latest outing as Batman. “This is a lifelong battle, not one that he takes lightly,” adds an Affleck friend, who says he’s been in “continual” treatment since a rehab stay in March. “His focus is on his family and getting better so that he can continue with what he loves.”

much more about Affleck, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands this week.

While he has “had a rough year” personally and professionally, the family source says “at the moment, he is doing great. He seems more honest with himself.”

RELATED VIDEO: Jennifer Garner Confronted Lindsay Shookus About Ben Affleck Relationship, Sources Say

Garner, 45, has been supportive of Affleck despite their pending divorce. “For Jen, it’s simple. She wants Ben to be the best dad possible to their kids,” Violet, 12, Seraphina, 8 and Samuel, 5, says the family source. “She wants Ben to be healthy.” 

While support from his loved ones helps, an industry source close to the actor says, “He is always going to have to face those demons. How he goes forward is strictly up to him.”

producer Lindsay Shookus, 37, since going public with their relationship in July, has said he plans to spend Thanksgiving with Garner and their kids.

He has also spent time in talk-show appearances addressing Hollywood’s sexual-harassment scandal. Last month,

One Tree Hill star Hilarie Burton claimed Affleck groped her when she was a host of MTV’s TRL.

“I don’t remember it but I absolutely apologize for it,” Affleck said on

on Nov. 16. “I certainly don’t think she’s lying or making it up. It’s just the kind of thing we have to — as men, I think, as we become more aware of this — be really, really mindful of our behavior and hold ourselves accountable. And say, ‘If I was ever part of the problem, I want to change and be part of the solution.’ ”

Subscribe to the daily newsletter for the latest celebrity news.