Paris Hilton in an interview with Drew Barrymore: I had social difficulties as a teenager

American businesswoman, socialite, model, singer and actress Paris Hilton joined actor Drew Barrymore for an interview on "The Drew Barrymore Show," where they bonded over their shared experience in solitary confinement.

Paris Hilton was supposed to do an interview, but then it turned into a conversation between women.

Barrymore said at the beginning of the interview that she felt a strong connection to the documentary because of her own childhood experiences.

Barrymore told Hilton, "We've known each other throughout our childhood and adult lives, and I've known you for years. I've seen your documentary, and it's like everything I've ever been through. I don't know how many conversations we're going to have on this show, so I wanted to talk to you. You know what happened to me. I was in solitary confinement. I was there for a long time, if you think about it, maybe a year, more than a year and a half. I have never seen such a story in life, and it is a story I know very well. Why did you decide to do it now?"

Barrymore was referring to the fact that Paris Hilton detailed her experiences in solitary confinement as a teenager in her original YouTube documentary "This Is Paris."

Hilton also suffered physical, emotional and verbal abuse at Provo Canyon School, a boarding school in Utah, where she likened her treatment to torture, saying she was often yelled at and berated, and was often placed in solitary confinement.

During the conversation, Hilton, 39, said she suffered from traumatic nightmares and post-traumatic stress disorder for years after attending boarding school.

Hilton said: "It's hard for me to relive the painful experiences and try to forget them and pretend they never happened. I've had nightmares about it since I was a teenager. So I try to look like I'm living the perfect life, and I'm too embarrassed to let people know. I know now that I shouldn't be embarrassed. Child abusers who work in these places should be ashamed of themselves."

Hilton alleged in an original YouTube documentary that she was beaten, given unidentified drugs and placed in solitary confinement by staff at Provo Canyon School. When she refused to accept them, she was sent to solitary confinement without clothes, sometimes for 20 hours at a time. (In a statement to People magazine last month and on its website, the college noted that it changed ownership in August 2000 after Hilton became a student. 'As such, we cannot comment on our previous experience,' the statement read.)

Hilton explained that being emotional about her painful past was not the intention of the film. She wanted to make a film to show what a businesswoman she is and what she has achieved, because she felt there were a lot of people who had the wrong idea about me.

"My relationship with the director became very close during the filming," she said. Just like the relationship between sisters, I feel that I can be with her, and I can talk freely about the pain that has been. She's been encouraging me and she said it's very important that you tell your story because you're going to help others that people want to move forward with."

'I've talked to a lot of survivors,' Mr. Hilton added. I've had thousands of letters and emails from people just contacting me and saying thank you for being brave enough to tell our story. We are running a campaign called Breaking the Code of Silence, where survivors will tell their stories. It was very difficult for me because I never wanted to talk about it in public.

Drew Barrymore also spoke about her experience. Her story is simple because she felt very rebellious. When she was very young, she found that there were many children like her, and their mothers did not know what to do with them. Then her mother left her there. But because of that, she says, "That place really helped me and saved my life, and if it wasn't for that, I really wouldn't change anything about myself."

"When I was living in Los Angeles, my parents were very strict and very protective of me," Hilton said. I can't go on dates, I can't wear makeup, I can't go to school dances. They just don't want me to grow up. Then I moved to New York and my life changed forever, and I started sneaking out at night, going to clubs, skipping school, but not really doing anything terrible, just wanting to have a night out, which really scared my parents because they were very protective of me."

In the documentary, Hilton talks about the school. "Employees say horrible things," she says. They always make me feel bad about myself, and I think their goal is to break us down. They abused us, beat us, choked us. They want to instill fear in our children so we don't dare disobey them."

'I had panic attacks and cried every day,' she continued. I'm in so much pain. I felt like a prisoner and hated life. I didn't really talk to my family. Maybe every two or three months. We were cut off from the outside world. They would take my phone or tear up my letter and tell me, no one will believe you. The staff will tell the parents that the children are lying. So my parents had no idea what was going on.

Hilton compared her conversation with Drew Barrymore to other media interviews she gave for the documentary, and credits Drew Barrymore for giving her one of the most intimate interviews she's ever had.